US Cuts Strategic Partnership With Georgia As Mass Protests Continue [Video]

The U.S. has suspended its strategic partnership with Georgia, condemning the ruling party for making the country “more vulnerable” to Russia as demonstrations rage over the government seemingly distancing itself from the European Union and NATO.

Georgia’s Prime Minister, Irakli Kobakhidze, said late last week that Tbilisi was halting talks on the country’s bid to join the European Union for four years.

The move triggered massive protests in Georgia, following on from large-scale demonstrations earlier in the fall over the results of the country’s parliamentary elections that gave Moscow-leaning party Georgian Dream 54 percent of the vote.

Opposition groups claim Russian interference in the elections, which the Kremlin has denied. The European Parliament said on Thursday that “significant irregularities” with the elections meant they “neither free nor fair,” and should be “rerun within a year.”