Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock on the situation in Georgia:

Grandmothers braving the bitter cold, refusing to be intimidated by the truncheons wielded by the security forces. Young people soaked to the skin, facing water cannons with nothing but European flags as protection. Opposition leaders who are brutally beaten and dragged away. For weeks now, tens of thousands of Georgians have been demonstrating courageously both in the smallest of villages and the major cities for a European future for their country.

The majority of people in Georgia want their country to continue on its European path. Europe dwells in their hearts, the pro-European protests are their voice. However, the leaders of the ruling party Georgian Dream are responding with intimidation, violence and water cannons. Turning away from Europe, Georgian Dream has now put on ice - and thus effectively suspended - Georgia's EU accession process. Given the increasingly authoritarian policies of Georgian Dream, we should now debate a formal suspension of Georgia's accession process in the EU.

The move to grant Georgia candidate status in December 2023 was tied to clear reform pledges. The leaders of Georgian Dream were always aware of this. Yet, instead of progress we are seeing alarming setbacks: elections that are severely criticised by international observers, disproportionate violence against demonstrators, the so-called Transparency Law or the restriction of LGBTQI+ rights. Here, Georgian Dream is wasting the historic opportunity that the European Union is offering the country.

In recent weeks and months, the Georgian Dream party has gradually moved the country further and further away from the EU and is thus hugely endangering Georgia's decades-long partnership with Germany. As a result, we have reduced our cooperation with the authorities in the country and suspended support projects to the tune of more than 200 million euro. In parallel, we are discussing further steps with our EU partners ranging from ending visa-free travel for Georgian leaders to launching targeted sanctions.

The ball is now in the court of the Georgian Dream leaders. It is now up to them to do everything to end the major political crisis, to win back trust and give the people in Georgia real prospects for the future - a return to the road to EU accession but above all a bright future for all Georgians.