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.

The European Union's ambassador to Georgia said on Friday that Tbilisi's move to effectively halt its EU accession bid until 2028 was "heartbreaking" and he also condemned police violence against protesters at a pro-EU demonstration on Thursday.

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.