Georgia's constitutional court on Monday ruled that President Salome Zurabishvili had breached the constitution by making unauthorised foreign trips, paving the way for her removal.
In September, MPs from the ruling Georgian Dream party moved to oust the figurehead president, amid growing fears from the opposition that Tbilisi is moving away from Europe towards Russia.
The ruling party lawmakers said Zurabishvili had met foreign leaders to lobby for Georgia's membership of the European Union without government permission.
By making the foreign visits without the government's consent, "the President of Georgia Salome Zurabishvili has breached the constitution of Georgia," said the head of Georgia's constitutional court, Merab Turava.
Zurabishvili, 71, has served as president since 2018.
But Georgia's ruling party has admitted to having little chance of ousting Zurabishvili as it only controls 84 seats in parliament, while the backing of at least 100 lawmakers is needed to impeach a president.
Opposition parties have said they would not support Zurabishvili's removal.
EU chief Charles Michel met Zurabishvili in Brussels last month to reaffirm the bloc's commitment to Georgia's European path and highlight reforms the country must make.
While relations between Moscow and Tbilisi have remained openly hostile for years, the Georgian government led by Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili has in the past year made moves towards rapprochement.
In March, Georgia was rocked by protests after the government introduced a Russian-style law on "foreign agents", and in May the government reopened direct flights with Russia, drawing condemnation from the EU.
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