TBILISI, Georgia (AP) — Police and protesters brutally clashed in Georgia after the country's ruling party suspended negotiations to join the European Union until 2028.

Georgia’s prime minister says the country will suspend negotiations on joining the European Union in view of what he described as “blackmail and manipulation” from some EU politicians.

Georgian riot police deployed tear gas and rubber bullets against demonstrators protesting a government decision to delay pursuing European Union accession.

Georgia has descended into chaos following Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze's decision to delay the country's European Union accession bid. Thousands of protesters rallied in Tbilisi and other cities,

Police in Georgia arrested dozens of people overnight and early Friday in a violent crackdown on protests against the government's decision to delay EU membership talks.

Pro-European Union Georgians were gathering on Friday for a second night of protests, after the country's ruling party said on Thursday that it was halting EU accession talks until 2028, in an abrupt freeze to a long-standing national aim.

Protesters clashed with police in Georgia's capital of Tbilisi on Thursday after the government suspended talks on its bid to join the European Union for four years.

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.