TBILISI, GEORGIA — Georgia’s ruling party said on Thursday that the country would suspend talks on European Union accession until 2028, while also refusing budgetary grants from Brussels, effectively halting its application to join the bloc, a long-standing national goal.

In response, thousands of pro-EU protesters blocked streets in the capital, while the country’s figurehead president accused the government of declaring war on its own people with the move.

The Georgian Dream governing bloc accused the EU of “a cascade of insults,” saying in a statement it was using the prospect of accession talks to blackmail the country and to “organize a revolution in the country.”

As a result, it said, “We have decided not to put the issue of opening negotiations with the European Union on the agenda until the end of 2028. Also, we refuse any budgetary grant from the European Union until the end of 2028.”

The South Caucasus country of 3.7 million has the aim of EU accession written into its constitution and has traditionally been among the most pro-Western of the Soviet Union’s successor states.

Georgia’s relations with Brussels have deteriorated sharply in recent months amid EU allegations of authoritarianism and pro-Russian tendencies. The EU had already said that Georgia’s application is frozen.

Georgian Dream says that it is not pro-Russian and that it is committed to democracy and integration with the West.

It says it wants to join the EU eventually but has repeatedly engaged in diplomatic feuds with Brussels in recent years while deepening ties with neighboring Russia.

There was no immediate formal comment from the EU on Georgian Dream’s statement. But an EU official said the impact of Thursday’s move was huge, adding that the government was doing what the EU had feared and had hoped it would not.

Opinion polls show that around 80% of Georgians support EU membership, and the bloc’s flag flies alongside the national flag outside virtually all government buildings in the country.

Georgia’s pro-Western opposition reacted to Georgian Dream’s announcement with fury, while several thousand protesters massed outside parliament and the ruling party’s headquarters, blocking roads. Local media reported that protests erupted in several provincial cities.

Giorgi Vashadze, a prominent opposition leader, wrote on Facebook: “the self-proclaimed, illegitimate government has already legally signed the betrayal of Georgia and the Georgian people.”

President Salome Zourabichvili, a pro-EU critic of Georgian Dream whose powers are mostly ceremonial, said the ruling party had “declared not peace, but war against its own people, its past and future.”

Zourabichvili’s term ends in December, and Georgian Dream has nominated a former lawmaker with hard-line anti-Western views to replace her.

The opposition says that an October election, in which official results gave the Georgian Dream bloc almost 54% of the vote, was fraudulent and have refused to take their seats. Western countries have called for a probe into alleged violations.

Georgian Dream and the country’s election commission say the election was free and fair.

Earlier on Thursday, Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze told journalists that EU membership might harm Georgia’s economy, as it would require Tbilisi to cancel visa-free agreements and trade deals with other countries.

The EU gave Georgia candidate status in December 2023 but has said that a raft of laws passed by Georgian Dream since, including curbs on “foreign agents” and LGBTQ rights, are authoritarian, Russian-inspired and obstacles to EU membership.

Foreign and domestic critics of Georgian Dream say the party, which is seen as dominated by its billionaire founder, ex-Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili, is steering Georgia back toward Moscow, from which it gained independence in 1991.

Russia and Georgia have had no formal diplomatic relations since a five-day war in 2008 but have had a limited rapprochement recently, with Moscow lifting a ban on flights to Georgia and scrapping a stringent visa regime for Georgians working in Russia.

Opinion polls show most Georgians dislike Russia, which continues to back two breakaway Georgian regions and defeated Tbilisi in the 2008 war.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, speaking on Thursday on a visit to Kazakhstan, praised the “courage and character” he said Georgian authorities had shown in passing the law on foreign agents, which domestic critics have likened to Russian legislation.
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LONDON — British and American authorities are investigating after several drones were spotted in recent days flying over four U.S. military bases in England. Britain has deployed dozens of troops around the bases amid concerns the overflights could be acts of deception or sabotage by an adversary such as Russia.

In a statement issued Wednesday, U.S. Air Forces in Europe said that “small unmanned aerial systems continue to be spotted in the vicinity of and over Royal Air Force Lakenheath, RAF Mildenhall, RAF Feltwell and RAF Fairford since Nov. 20.” It said the number of drones sighted has fluctuated and has ranged in size and configurations.

“To date, installation leaders have determined that none of the incursions impacted base residents, facilities or assets. The air force is taking all appropriate measures to safeguard the aforementioned installations and their residents,” the statement said.

RAF Lakenheath in the east of England is home to the U.S. Air Force 48th Fighter Wing, a cornerstone of its combat capability in Europe and home to several F-35 stealth fighter jets, among other aircraft. Four American B-52 strategic bombers are currently based at RAF Fairford in the west of the country.

The Pentagon said this week it is actively monitoring the situation. “The bottom line is it’s something that we’re going to take seriously. We’re continuing to look into it. But as of right now, [it] has not had any significant mission impact,” Pentagon spokesperson Major General Patrick Ryder told reporters Tuesday, adding that small drones have become “relatively common now across the landscape.”

Britain has deployed about 60 soldiers around the U.S. bases. British Defense Minister Maria Eagle said they are using “multilayered force protection measures.”

“We will be making sure that anybody that we manage to catch for engaging in this behavior is shown the full force of the law,” Eagle told lawmakers Wednesday.

The nature of the sightings suggests the drones are not being operated by hobbyists, said David Dunn, a professor of international politics at Britain’s University of Birmingham, who has written extensively on the dangers posed by drones.

“It’s particularly alarming in this context that actually talked about there [being] several different sizes of drones. It does seem to be a coordinated and planned activity. The most obvious thing is that these are disruptive practices and that they actually force the airfield to operate in a different way, to suspend air operations,” Dunn told VOA.

The drones can also be used for other purposes.

“They can gather intelligence on how many planes are operating, where they’re based, what the movements are. And, actually, they can also do that for individuals,” Dunn said.

Drones have been sighted above the U.S. base at RAF Feltwell, which primarily serves as living quarters for U.S. military personnel — a “particularly sinister” development, according to Dunn.

“Because in an age where you have highly sophisticated fifth-generation aircraft that operate stealthily and invisibly in the electronic spectrum when they’re flying — and are highly protected on the airbase in hardened aircraft shelters — the most vulnerable part of the overall system is actually the aircrew,” Dunn told VOA.

“And so, if you can identify where they live by following them home onto their married quarters, you can identify where you can actually break the weakest part of that chain,” he said.

The Times of London newspaper reported that authorities have not ruled out Russia as the culprit. Dunn said there’s evidence of Moscow seeking to step up hybrid attacks, meaning a nonmilitary form of warfare that can still be destructive.

“Whether that be the disruption of undersea cables or of incendiary parcels being sent to the city I live in, Birmingham — there was an incendiary parcel found in Birmingham airport. There’s another [example] of a warehouse being burned down, which stored material going to Ukraine. These things are typically, it seems, done at third party, whereby the Russian state, it seems, has employed criminals in the U,K.,” Dunn said.

The Russian Embassy in London had not responded to VOA requests for comment by the time of publication. Moscow has previously denied any involvement in hybrid attacks on the West.
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Russian drones and missiles pounded Ukrainian energy infrastructure Thursday, cutting off power to more than 1 million people across the country, Ukrainian authorities said.

“As of now, 523,000 subscribers in the Lviv region are without electricity,” regional head Maksym Kozytsky said on social media. The region, in the western part of the country, borders Poland.

Directly north of the Lviv region, 215,000 customers lost power in the region of Volyn, and in the neighboring Rivne region, governor Oleksandr Koval said 280,000 consumers were without power.

“Energy infrastructure is once again targeted by the enemy’s massive strike,” Ukrainian Energy Minister German Galushchenko wrote on Facebook.

Ukrenergo, the national electrical grid operator, introduced emergency power cuts amid the attack, Galushchenko said.

Officials told Reuters that several nuclear power units were disconnected from the network during the attacks.

Private power company DTEK said the power cuts impacted Kyiv, Odesa, Dnipropetrovsk and Donetsk regions.

Some regional officials said water service also was affected by the airstrikes.

The head of Ukraine’s presidential office, Andrii Yermak, said in a Telegram post that Russia had stockpiled missiles to strike Ukrainian infrastructure and wage war against civilians during the cold season, The Associated Press reported.

Information from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters was used in the report. 
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Tehran, Iran — Iran is set to meet on Friday with France, Germany and the United Kingdom for talks on its nuclear program after the three governments joined with the United States to have Tehran censured by the U.N. atomic watchdog.

Last week’s chiding prompted a defiant response from Tehran, but its officials have since signaled willingness to engage with other parties ahead of the return of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, whose last administration pursued a policy of “maximum pressure” against the Islamic republic.

Iranian diplomat Majid Takht-Ravanchi, who serves as the political deputy to Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, is scheduled to represent Iran in the talks on Friday.

He will meet beforehand with Enrique Mora, deputy secretary general of the EU’s foreign affairs arm, according to the IRNA state news agency.

Last week, the 35-nation board of governors of the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) adopted a resolution condemning Iran for its lack of cooperation on nuclear issues.

The resolution was brought by France, Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States, and was actively opposed by Tehran.

In response, Iran announced the launch of “new advanced centrifuges” designed to increase its stockpile of enriched uranium.

Tehran’s willingness to sit down with the three European countries so soon after the censure comes just weeks before Trump is set to return to the White House in January.

During his first term, Trump focused on imposing heavy sanctions on Iran following the United States’ unilateral withdrawal from a landmark 2015 nuclear deal three years after it was established.

That agreement between Tehran and major powers aimed to give Iran relief from crippling Western sanctions in exchange for limiting its nuclear program to prevent it from developing a nuclear weapon.

In retaliation for the U.S. withdrawal, Tehran has reduced its compliance with the deal, raising its uranium enrichment levels to 60% — close to the 90% required for a nuclear bomb.

Tehran has consistently denied any intentions of pursuing nuclear weapons.

For Tehran, the goal of the talks on Friday is to avoid a “double disaster” scenario, in which it would face renewed pressures from both Trump and European nations, according to political analyst Mostafa Shirmohammadi.

He noted that Iran’s support among European nations had been eroded by allegations it offered military assistance for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Iran has denied these accusations and hopes to mend relations with Europe, while also maintaining a firm stance.

‘Legal obligations’

The IAEA’s censure resolution urged Iran to “fulfil its legal obligations” under the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) ratified in 1970, which requires member states to declare and maintain their nuclear materials under IAEA supervision.

In response, Foreign Minister Araghchi, who was instrumental in the nuclear negotiations in 2015, said Iran was commissioning “several thousand advanced centrifuges.”

The head of Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, Mohammad Eslami, said Wednesday that they had begun inserting gas into the centrifuges.

Centrifuges work by rapidly spinning uranium gas to increase the proportion of the fissile isotope U-235.

Iran insists on its right to nuclear energy for peaceful purposes, but according to the IAEA, it is the only non-nuclear-weapon state enriching uranium to 60%.

Under the 2015 accord — which will expire in October 2025 — Iran’s enrichment was capped at 3.67%.

Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final authority in Iran’s decision-making, has issued a religious decree, or fatwa, prohibiting the use of atomic weapons.

Iran’s nuclear program dates back to the late 1950s when the United States, then an ally, signed a civil cooperation agreement with Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.
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Geneva, Switzerland — A young South African activist living with HIV will take over Oscar-winning actress Charlize Theron’s Instagram account on World AIDS Day, the United Nations said Thursday.

Ibanomonde Ngema, a 21-year-old activist, will be given the reins to the South African-born actress’s global account @charlizeafrica, with some 7.6 million followers, on December 1, UNAIDS said in a statement.

The takeover by Ngema, who was born with HIV and has dedicated her advocacy work to dispelling myths and reducing stigma around HIV, will aim to bring awareness to the first-hand experiences of young people living with HIV, it said.

Theron, a so-called UN Messenger of Peace who has long advocated for tackling the systemic inequalities that drive HIV infections among young women and girls, insisted in the statement that “ending AIDS is within reach.”

But, she warned, “only if we completely dismantle harmful patterns of stigma and discrimination through laws, policies, and practices that protect people living with HIV.”

Theron won a best actress Oscar for her lead role in the 2004 film “Monster” and has more recently starred in pictures such as “Mad Max: Fury Road.”

“I have always loved watching Charlize Theron on the big screen and have long been inspired by her using her influence to help people around the world, especially in our home country of South Africa,” Ngema said in the statement.

The announcement came after UNAIDS this week released a new report that showed how rights violations exacerbate the vulnerability of women and girls to HIV.

Last year, women and girls accounted for 62% of all new HIV infections in sub-Saharan Africa, UNAIDS said.
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BERLIN — Russia’s acts of sabotage against Western targets may eventually prompt NATO to consider invoking the alliance’s Article 5 mutual defense clause, the head of Germany’s foreign intelligence service said on Wednesday.

Speaking at an event of the DGAP think tank in Berlin on Wednesday, Bundesnachrichtendienst chief Bruno Kahl said he expected Moscow to further step up its hybrid warfare.

“The extensive use of hybrid measures by Russia increases the risk that NATO will eventually consider invoking its Article 5 mutual defense clause,” he noted. “At the same time, the increasing ramp up of the Russian military potential means a direct military confrontation with NATO becomes one possible option for the Kremlin.”

Under Article 5, if a NATO member comes under attack, the other members of the alliance are obliged to help it respond.

NATO and Western intelligence services have warned that Russia is behind a growing number of hostile activities across the Euro-Atlantic area, ranging from repeated cyberattacks to Moscow-linked arson — all of which Russia denies.

Kahl said Russia’s military would likely be capable of attacking NATO by the end of the decade, adding that Moscow’s war on Ukraine meant that it had battle-proven troops under its command, raising the threat emanating from its conventional forces, while it also mastered modern drone warfare.

According to the assessment of his experts, high-ranking officials in the Russian defense ministry doubt whether NATO’s Article 5 including U.S. protective measures for Europe would actually be invoked in case of an emergency, the intel chief said.

“We don’t have any indication yet that Russia intends to go to war, but if such sentiments gain the upper hand in the government in Moscow, then the risk for a military confrontation will grow over the coming years.”

Should Russia attack one or several NATO allies, it would not do so to grab massive swaths of land, Kahl said, but rather to test red lines set by the West with the aim of defeating Western unity and NATO as a defensive alliance.

“In Russia’s view, this goal would be reached if Article 5 were to remain without effect in case of a Russian attack,” he said.

“To meet this target, you don’t need to send tank armies westwards, it is enough to dispatch little green men to the Baltics to protect allegedly threatened Russian minorities or adjust borders on Svalbard.”
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LONDON — Romania’s top security agency said Thursday it is investigating possible foreign interference in Sunday’s first round of the nation’s presidential election. The far-right candidate, Calin Georgescu, topped all other candidates with almost 23% of the vote, despite polling in single digits before the election.

Georgescu will compete in a December 8 runoff with center-right candidate Elena Lasconi, who finished second with 19% and hopes to pick up support from defeated centrist and leftist candidates. Romanians will also vote in parliamentary elections on December 1.

The Supreme Defense Council, which is led by incumbent President Klaus Iohannis, is due to meet on Thursday to “analyze possible risks to national security generated by the actions of state and non-state cyber parties,” according to a statement released Wednesday by the president’s office.

Additionally, the National Audiovisual Council of Romania, which regulates broadcasting and social media, has urged the European Commission to investigate the role TikTok may have played in Sunday’s vote amid what it called “suspicions of manipulation of public opinion,” according to Reuters.

Protests

Protesters have taken to the streets of Bucharest in the wake of Georgescu’s surprise victory. Uma, a student who did not want to give her family name, joined the protests in central Bucharest on Monday.

“Calin Georgescu, an extremist, a far-right extremist who is a pro-Russian, wants to take Romania away from the NATO course,” she said.

Georgescu has questioned NATO and European Union support for Kyiv in its war against Russian invaders. Romania hosts several thousand U.S. troops and shares a 613-kilometer border with Ukraine.

The 62-year-old presidential candidate has praised fascist politicians in the 1930s as Romanian heroes.

NATO membership, Russian engagement

In a video streamed Tuesday on social media, Georgescu — standing alongside his wife, Cristela — sought to clarify his positions.

“I do not want to leave NATO. I do not want to leave the European Union. What I want, however, is to take a stance, not to kneel over there, not to take everything. We should do everything in our national interest,” Georgescu said. “I have no connection to everything that says, ‘With Russia.’ I am Romanian, first and foremost. … I have no connection, and I am not, first and foremost, antisemitic.”

Georgescu has urged Western engagement with Russia, echoing other right-wing European leaders such as Hungary’s Viktor Orban, said noted political analyst Radu Magdin, CEO of Smartlink Communications.

“Mr. Georgescu talks a lot about peace. And the thing is, we all want peace, Ukraine wants peace. But it’s not easy to have peace when somebody invades your territory. So, from this perspective, by claiming peace, he’s part also of a movement across Europe, which in fact is a translation of what you may call war fatigue,” Magdin told VOA.

Speaking on Monday, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Russia was unfamiliar with Georgescu’s policies. “We are well aware of Romania’s current leadership. It is not a friendly country for us. So, we will be watching the further development of electoral processes and who is going to win.”

Inflation

Economic pressures have also driven frustration with the established parties, according to Magdin.

“Beyond the geopolitics, what really bites is the living conditions,” he said. “Romania is affected by inflation, like a lot of other countries, and living conditions are not what they used to be.

“It’s like a never-ending nightmare. We had COVID, then we had the first wave of economic impact. Then we had war in the region, an energy crisis and an inflation wave again. And yes, you could say that Europe has tried to be resilient. But the reality is, we are all tired.”

TikTok

Young and overseas voters appear to have boosted Georgescu’s results.

“On social media, he was dominant on TikTok compared with other candidates,” Magdin said. “His vision is mostly conservative, traditionalist. … For example, he talks about peasants, not farmers, so as to connect with that part of the electorate. He sounds a little bit bucolic. He invokes God quite a lot, as well.”
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President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday said he will nominate retired Army Lieutenant General Keith Kellogg to serve as assistant to the president and special envoy for Ukraine and Russia. 

Kellogg was chief of staff on Trump’s National Security Council during his first administration and was the national security adviser to former Vice President Mike Pence.

“Together, we will secure peace through strength, and make America, and the world, safe again,” Trump said in a statement naming Kellogg as envoy.

Kellogg spoke exclusively with VOA’s Ukrainian service in July about his vision for ending the war in Ukraine, published as part of the book, “An America First Approach to U.S. National Security.” At the time he said he had not presented the plan to Trump nor was he a formal adviser but said the plan would be one option to consider.

He recommended then that the U.S. begin a formal policy “to seek a ceasefire and negotiated settlement of the Ukraine conflict.” The U.S. would continue to arm Ukraine to deter Russia from attacking during or after a deal is reached, under the condition that Kyiv agrees to enter into peace talks with Russia.

To persuade Russia to participate in the negotiations, Kellogg wrote that the U.S. and other NATO partners would delay Ukraine’s membership in the alliance for an extended period in exchange for a “comprehensive and verifiable deal with security guarantees.”

Under the imagined deal, Ukraine would not be asked to give up its ambition to regain all land seized by Russia, but Kyiv should agree to use diplomatic means only and realize that it might take a long time to regain all of the territories. The strategy proposes partial lifting of sanctions on Russia to encourage the Kremlin to take steps toward peace and establish levies on Russian energy imports to fund Ukraine’s reconstruction.
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Russia’s demographic crisis is deepening, with the nation projected to lose up to half of its population by the end of this century. In response, Moscow is stepping up its war on Western-style liberal influence with a law that fines anyone who promotes a childless lifestyle. Elizabeth Cherneff narrates this report from Ricardo Marquina.
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