Protests in Georgia: the U.S. has suspended its strategic partnership with Tbilisi.

The United States has decided to indefinitely suspend its strategic partnership with Georgia. Washington made this decision due to the actions of the ruling party "Georgian Dream," which is associated with the Russian regime, to halt the process of joining the European Union and the harsh suppression of protests against this decision.

This is stated in an official announcement from the U.S. State Department. They noted that stopping the EU accession process contradicts the Georgian constitution, which guarantees the promise of full integration of Georgia into the European Union and NATO.

"By suspending Georgia's EU accession process, the 'Georgian Dream' has rejected the opportunity for closer ties with Europe and made Georgia more vulnerable to the Kremlin," the statement said.

The State Department also highlighted that an overwhelming majority of Georgians support the country's accession to the EU and NATO. The U.S. "condemns the excessive use of force by police against Georgians attempting to exercise their rights to express opinions, including the freedom of peaceful protest," considering such actions deeply anti-democratic.

"The anti-democratic actions of 'Georgian Dream' have violated the fundamental principles of our strategic partnership between the U.S. and Georgia, which was based on shared values and commitments to democracy, the rule of law, civil society, respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, as well as the fight against corruption. As a result, the U.S. has suspended this mechanism… Georgia must return to the Euro-Atlantic path, transparently investigate all violations in the parliamentary elections, and repeal anti-democratic laws that restrict freedom of assembly and expression," the statement concluded.

At the end of October, parliamentary elections were held in Georgia. The contest was between the ruling party "Georgian Dream," which has been in power for 12 years, and pro-European opposition political forces. According to the Central Election Commission of Georgia, the ruling party, which is also considered pro-Russian, received more than 54% of the votes, allowing it to unilaterally form the government.

The President of Georgia, Salome Zourabichvili, and pro-European opposition parties did not recognize the election results. Protests began in Tbilisi at the end of October.