Georgia Dismisses Hundreds of Civil Servants Over EU Protests

(Reuters) - Georgia has fired around 700 civil servants for supporting pro-European Union protests in the South Caucasus country since December, according to the local chapter of anti-corruption organisation Transparency International.

Large protests erupted in November, after the government, which critics say is moving in a pro-Russian and authoritarian direction, said it was freezing EU membership talks until 2028.

The abrupt halt to a longstanding and popular national goal provoked widespread anger in the nation of 3.7 million. Employees of several government agencies signed open letters denouncing the move and senior diplomats at several foreign embassies resigned in protest.

In early December, Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze said the open letters represented a "self-cleansing" of what he said were disloyal elements in the civil service.

The protests, which are still ongoing, drew a violent crackdown by Georgian authorities that Western countries have condemned.

Since the protests began, the ruling Georgian Dream party has repeatedly amended laws governing the civil service, weakening public sector workers' legal protections.

Transparency International said that among the departments most affected by the dismissals were the defence ministry and Tbilisi city hall.

A government spokesperson did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

Traditionally among the most pro-Western of the Soviet Union's successor states, Georgia's relations with the West have soured in recent years as Tbilisi has moved to deepen ties with Moscow, especially since Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

The ruling Georgian Dream party, which is seen as controlled by billionaire former prime minister Bidzina Ivanishvili, won re-election in an October election the opposition says was fraudulent.

The party has in the last years introduced a series of laws, including curbs on LGBT rights and a controversial statute requiring organisations receiving money from overseas to register as "foreign agents" or face harsh penalties.

Georgian Dream says it still wants to eventually join the EU, but that it also advocates balanced relations with former imperial power Russia, and the maintenance of traditional values.

(Reporting by Felix Light; Editing by Ros Russell)