A view of Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia. Image by Katarzyna Javaheri-Szpak from Pixabay
Washington: Georgia, which once aspired to be a member of NATO and the European Union (EU), has been dumped into the backyard by both these organisations and today the United States of America announced pausing more than $95 million in assistance that directly benefits the Government of Georgia. Earlier this month, the EU froze Georgia’s accession dialogue and also funding.
The US comprehensively reviewed its bilateral cooperation with Georgia following an announcement to this effect by the US Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken on May 23, 2024, after what the US termed as “anti-democratic actions” by the Georgian government. Blinken, on May 23, announced the implementation of a new visa restriction policy for Georgia that applied to individuals who were responsible for or complicit in undermining democracy in Georgia, as well as their family members. This included individuals responsible for suppressing civil society and freedom of peaceful assembly in Georgia through a campaign of violence or intimidation.
On July 1, Blinken while speaking on Georgia’s upcoming election in October 2024 at a conversation on US foreign policy at Brookings Institution, talked about Georgia’s foreign agent law, and infrastructure deals in the Black Sea with China. He expressed his deep concerns about the passage of the foreign agent law and said, “We’ve taken action to manifest those concerns. And I think you’re likely to see more of that. I think it’s clearly antithetical to the European direction that Georgia wants to take, and that clearly the majority of the Georgian people want to take”.
Blinken today reiterated that the Georgian government’s anti-democratic actions and false statements were incompatible with membership norms in the EU and NATO.
“While we are pausing our assistance to the Government of Georgia due to those actions, the United States will continue assistance to programmes and activities that benefit the people of Georgia by strengthening democracy, rule of law, independent media, and economic development,” he said.
Over the 32 years of friendship and partnership between the two countries, Blinken noted that the United States had provided over $6.2 billion in assistance, contributing to the development and strengthening of Georgia’s economy and democratic institutions.
“Our support has helped equip and train Georgia’s Defense Forces and Coast Guard, built schools and hospitals, and trained teachers, civil servants, and medical professionals. We will remain committed to the Georgian people and their Euro-Atlantic aspirations,” he said.
The US has been upset with Georgia, which faces elections in October 2024, mainly over the government’s decision to move forward with the implementation of the foreign agent pact, which is a piece of legislation that the US claims is copycatted from Moscow. Yesterday a US State Department Spokesperson had categorically said that the concerns that Washington had about this legislation were “very real” and “very serious”. Another provocation came yesterday when Georgia said it had prepared some registration forms for the media organizations that receive more than 20 per cent of their funding from the West to register as a foreign agent. “This is, frankly, legislation that looks like it’s right out of the Kremlin’s playbook, a targeting of humanitarian organizations, NGOs, human rights defenders, journalists. And so this is something we’ll certainly be paying close attention to…,” the US State Department stated.
Besides, the Georgian government was blacklisting Georgians fighting in Ukraine, and also hoping Donald Trump to win the US Presidential elections to make things “brighter” for Georgia. When Trump survived an assassination attempt earlier this month, the Prime Minister of Georgia, Irakli Kobakhidze, echoed the Kremlin and accused the “global war party” of being behind this attempt, suggesting Joe Biden’s hands in the ploy without naming the US President.
The US of late sees the Georgian government to be backsliding on democratic measures as well as European-Atlantic integration under Russian influence.
Over the past few months, the ruling Georgian Dream party developed and passed a “foreign influence” law that Washington claims would “stifle the exercise of freedoms of association and expression, stigmatize organizations that serve the citizens of Georgia, and impede independent media organizations working to provide Georgians with access to high-quality information”.
On May 24, 2024, James O’Brien, Assistant Secretary Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs, and a former US Ambassador to Georgia, disclosed he had “very detailed” conversations with representatives of the Georgian government, including the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, “about the specific ways in which the proposed law, we think, is incompatible with the path that Georgia has set for itself”. He mentioned that even the Venice Commission, the body in Europe that comments on these laws, too had come out with a “very strong” opinion making the same point.
Blinken asserts that the Georgian citizens have voiced opposition to the law, and claimed, “we have seen clear indications of a campaign of intimidation and the use of violence to suppress peaceful dissent”.
The US holds the view that the “national security law” and the “repressive tactics used to quell legitimate dissent” undermined Georgia’s
Russia’s foreign intelligence service has accused the US of plotting regime change in Georgia, claiming that the Biden administration had already developed a large-scale information campaign to discredit the ruling Georgian Dream party. The US termed these allegations as “completely false”.
So far the US was hopeful that the Georgian leadership would change course under the pressure of the people of Georgia, but there has been a concern in Georgia about the government going after the activists, their family members, and even their friends.
The US has warned that it would oppose any crackdown on democratic dissent. Yet, what sounds perplexing is that only recently Washington hosted besides the Georgian foreign minister, even Georgia’s spy chief and some police officers who were involved in the crackdown on opposition leaders.
Significantly, earlier this month the American Under Secretary of State for Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights Uzra Zeya travelled to Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia, where she engaged representatives of the government, civil society, media, and parliament to underscore the USA’s concerns over the ‘foreign influence law and other illiberal legislation and the harmful rhetoric of the Georgian government’. She made it clear there that the Georgian government’s “undemocratic behaviour” and “disinformation about the United States” had damaged the long-standing relationship between them. She emphasized unwavering US support for Georgia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, the Georgian people’s commitment to Euro-Atlantic integration, and assistance to Georgia over 32 years of partnership. She also highlighted the importance of free and fair elections and a vibrant civil society, raised respect for fundamental freedoms, protections for members of marginalized groups, and the human rights of all Georgians. A visit to a community organization, founded and led by women displaced by Russia’s continued occupation of Georgia, was also part of Zeya’s itinerary.
The US claimed that it was going to judge the Georgian Government based on its policies and that Washington’s policies would depend on the actions that the Georgian government took.
– global bihari bureau
