Georgia has been rocked by protests after its increasingly autocratic government said it would halt the former Soviet country’s bid to join the European Union.

Police in Tbilisi fired water cannons at protesters who took to the streets after Georgia’s ruling party suspended negotiations to join the European Union until 2028.

Georgia is suspending talks on its bid to join the European Union for four years, its prime minister said Thursday, in view of what he described as “blackmail and manipulation” from some of the bloc's politicians.

Police clashed with protesters in the Georgian capital Tbilisi early on Friday, after the country’s ruling party said the government would suspend talks on European Union accession and refuse budgetary grants until 2028.

The statement by the prime minister came hours after he was reappointed to the job by members of the governing Georgian Dream party after its disputed victory in last month’s parliamentary election that has sparked protests and led to an opposition boycott of parliament.

Georgia on Thursday said it will suspend accession talks with the European Union until the end of 2028. Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze from the nationalist Georgian Dream ruling party said Brussels' demands for negotiations were a form of blackmail and said integration was a two-way process.