TBILISI

The European Union has suspended Georgia’s accession process of the bloc, the EU Delegation to Georgia announced on Tuesday amid the debates over the controversial “foreign influence” law.

The decision was taken by leaders participating in a recent EU summit, the delegation’s social media post quoted EU Ambassador to Georgia Pawel Herczynski.

Speaking at an event in the capital Tbilisi, Herczynski noted that under this decision, the EU has also frozen its financial assistance of 30 million euros for 2024 to Georgia.

The EU will mull further measures if the “situation deteriorates further,” he said without providing further detail.

“It is disheartening to see EU-Georgia relations at such a low point when they could be at an all-time high,” he said.

The decision follows protests in Georgia after the” foreign influence” bill was introduced to parliament in April.

Georgia’s parliament adopted the divisive law, overriding a presidential veto on the measure, which critics say is anti-democratic and mirrors Russian legislation used to silence dissent.

The legislation mandated that organizations in Georgia receiving more than 20 percent of their funding from abroad register as “an entity advocating for the interests of a foreign power,” failing which they would face fines.

Georgia, which applied for EU membership in March 2022, was granted candidate status in December 2023. The introduction of the foreign influence law has exacerbated tensions between the EU and Georgia, leading to multiple calls from EU officials for the law to be rescinded. Brussels warned the move will derail the Black Sea nation from its path to European Union membership.