On November 16, during the hearing held at the US Senate’s Foreign Relations Committee to assess US policy in the Caucasus, Senators asked Karen Donfried, the Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, critical questions about Georgia’s democratic backsliding, among other issues, US Senator Jeanne Shaheen said, "The current Georgian Government said that candidate status was a key commitment that it was going to make, but they have reneged on that commitment."

“The reality is that there has been tremendous backsliding in Georgia. We provide considerable support to Georgia to support a reform agenda. I argue that maybe we should tie some of that aid to behavior on the part of Georgia. I was persuaded by State Department officials and House members in the last round of budget negotiations that maybe that was not a good thing to do, but I think maybe we need to think about whether it's time to rethink our strategy on Georgia," she added.

US Senator emphasized, "The current Georgian Government said that candidate status was a key commitment it would make. It said that to the public. Georgia said that to the United States and the European community, and they have reneged on that commitment. And I think it's important for us to think about the options we have to try and hold them accountable for that, to let them know there are consequences. Some of those consequences may be the kind of assistance we are willing to provide. And, you know, I agree that the Georgian people are not the ones at fault here. It's their government, but at some point, they need to demand more from their government and more accountability."

"I hope that we might be able to engage in the future in a longer discussion about this issue because I do think we have to think of other ways in which we can help incentivize behavior because what we're doing now doesn't seem to be working," the Senator concluded.

Georgian Dream Responds

Irakli Kobakhidze, the Chairperson of the ruling Georgian Dream, claimed, “A huge part of the US funding goes mainly to civil society organizations. Thus, it is less interesting to us. As for the unfair criticism, it has no value for us. The only criticism with concrete grounds can be valuable. In this case, we again heard unfair criticism. I would reiterate that this funding mainly goes to CSOs; therefore, they should worry if this funding faces any threat. But I do not think this will happen because funding of CSOs is within the interests of this country [US]. Shaheen said in her remarks that it is not expedient to discuss this issue [introducing the conditionality component in providing financial support to Georgia]. Earlier, one of the former US ambassadors said that any reservations are irrelevant because they are working through CSOs.”

Mamuka Mdinaradze, the Chairperson of the Georgian Dream parliamentary faction, remarked, "Senator Jeanne Shaheen has not uttered a word about Georgia for months, neither bad nor good. It happened only after the EU Commissioner for Enlargement made very positive remarks about Georgia. It is nothing but an attempt to move to a negative agenda. Regrettably, I have to say it. It does not matter whether she talks about funding or not. It is of secondary importance. Most important is that we have not heard either positive or negative messages for months.”

US Ambassador Responds to Georgian Dream

On November 18, the US Ambassador to Georgia Kelly Degnan discussed the recent criticism of US Senator Jeanne Shaheen in a press conference at the Georgian Strategic Analysis Center.

US Ambassador Degnan highlighted, "Well, from what I gather, no Georgian would use that type of language against anyone," in response to the criticisms made against Senator Shaheen, notably by Georgian Dream MP Irakli Zarkua, who called the Senator a bastard. "Most Georgians agreed that it was wholly wrong, in my opinion," she added.

Opposition parties respond

Strategy Builder, Droa, and Girchi - More Freedom released statements in response to the senators' evaluations.

"Georgian Dream's betrayal of the national interests of Georgia is obvious. The statements of the US senators and the response of the Georgian Government to them confirm once again that they finally chose the side of Russia. Right now, more than ever, there is a need for uniting and taking decisive steps," it added.

" 'A huge backsliding of democracy' - this is how the events in Georgia were evaluated on November 16 at the hearing held on the South Caucasus in the US Senate. Senators and representatives of the Department of State not only criticized the Georgian Government's actions towards independent media and the opposition but even talked about the conditionality of aid to Georgia, which implies that US financial support to Georgia should depend on the actions of the Georgian Government. Therefore, it is clear that the Georgian Drea­m's attempts to mislead the West and present itself as a pro-Western power are convincing to fewer and fewer people in Western political circles. The US Senate and the Department of State are convinced that the Dre­am is not going to fulfill the 12 points of the European Commission, which, according to the US, is the way of European and Euro-Atlantic integration of our country”, the statement reads.