Potential US Concessions to Georgia Sparks Political Controversy
According to the political council of "Georgian Dream," the improvement of Georgian-American relations depends entirely on the correct actions of the American side. For this, it is not necessary to make "promises with a completely vague perspective and insulting blackmail, but to show respect for the Georgian state and the Georgian people."
With this statement, the ruling party responded to the information that "the US is considering transferring an important military and trade package to Georgia and liberalizing the visa regime if the anti-democratic course changes."
As mentioned in the statement of "Georgian Dream," in recent years, special draft laws on Georgia have already been initiated twice in Congress, but none of them have seen the light of day.
"Yesterday, information was spread in the international media about the bill initiated by one of the American congressmen. According to the draft law, Georgia will receive visa liberalization and a free trade agreement if the government enacts a law on the transparency of NGOs, does not adopt a law against LGBT propaganda, conducts elections well, and refrains from negative rhetoric towards America. In the opposite case, the bill envisages sanctions against government officials.
The draft law has not yet been adopted, and the prospect of its adoption is very unclear. In recent years, such special draft laws on Georgia have already been introduced twice in the Congress, but none of them saw the light of day in the end. However, since the new draft law has already created a fertile ground for speculation for Georgian radicals, we consider it necessary to respond to it," the statement said.
The ruling party says that a dignified attitude towards Georgia should have been expressed completely differently.
"In the background of all this, the recovery of Georgian-American relations depends entirely on the correct actions of the American side. For this, it is unnecessary to make promises with a completely vague perspective and insulting blackmail but to show respect for the Georgian state and the Georgian people. Unfortunately, a number of American politicians and officials make mistake after mistake and talk to Georgia again in the language of blackmail. The government of Georgia is not playing. We are passing the NGO Transparency Act because we see no other way to appease the country. As already mentioned, since 2020, "NGOs" have already tried to organize a revolution in this country twice, and we could not wait for the third attempt. For us, this law is not a subject of trade but an effective means of protecting the sovereignty of Georgia, and we cannot trade the sovereignty of the country under any circumstances. We cannot leave unjust attacks on Georgia unanswered, either. This is our responsibility towards the Georgian people, who gave us the mandate to manage the country," the statement said.
According to the statement "Georgian Dream," if the US continues to act with the same approach towards Georgia, "the interests of Georgia and America will be harmed."
"Our partners can qualitatively rearrange their relations in one year at most. If they realize this, relations will be sorted out very quickly, but if they continue to act with the same approach towards Georgia, they will harm the interests of Georgia and America. As already said, everything is in the hands of partners, and Georgia, as a small country, cannot change anything unilaterally. Therefore, we should hope that rational thought will prevail in America. Thus, both countries will only benefit," the statement said.