European Union Ambassador to Georgia Pavel Gerchinsky called the authorities' rejection of European integration disappointing and sad, pointing out that this decision contradicts the wishes of the overwhelming majority of the population.
“I think today we all woke up in a completely new reality. We heard Mr. Kobakhidze's statement that Georgia is not interested in going down the path of EU integration in the next 4 years. Of course, this is extremely sad... For me personally it is really heartbreaking,” the Ambassador said. ”What happened yesterday clearly contradicts the policy of the previous government of Georgia, the policy of all previous governments of Georgia. It is also contrary to the wishes of the overwhelming majority of the Georgian population. But, of course, Georgia is an independent country, a sovereign country, and it is up to Georgia to decide whether it wants to follow the path of European integration,” he added.
Although Gerchinsky called the Georgian government's decision “sovereign”, he appealed to the Georgian people pointing out that they should decide for themselves what they want their country to be: “We support the Georgian people, we will wait for you. This is your country, you should decide where you want it to be.”
On Thursday, Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze announced the removal of the issue of opening talks on the country's accession to the EU from the agenda until 2028 and the withdrawal of all EU budget grants.
This followed a critical European Parliament resolution that said Georgia's recent parliamentary elections were not “free and fair” and called for their re-run under international supervision.
Pro-European President Salome Zurabishvili urged citizens to oppose the government's decision. On Thursday, a large-scale protest rally spontaneously gathered in Tbilisi. Citizens also came out to protest in Kutaisi, Gori, Zugdidi and Batumi.
Reprinted from https://www.newsgeorgia.ge/
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