US House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee Hearing on U.S. Policy in Georgia and Moldova
On July 23, the U.S. House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee held a hearing that examined the situation in and the U.S. policy toward Georgia and Moldova ahead of their upcoming elections. Chaired by the U.S. representative Thomas Kean, the hearing featured testimonies by Joshua Huck and Christopher Smith, Deputy Assistant Secretaries at the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs at the U.S. Department of State, and Alexander Sokolowski, Deputy Assistant Administrator at the Bureau for Europe and Eurasia at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).
The hearing was held in the context of the upcoming parliamentary election in Georgia and the Moldovan presidential election, which are both scheduled to take place in October. In relation to Georgia questions were raised by members of the committee about the recently passed foreign agents’ law, the sanctioning of Georgian officials by the State Department, Georgia’s Euro-Atlantic integration, as well as growing Russian and Chinese influence in Georgia and the South Caucasus region.
Opening Remarks
Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee Thomas Kean opened the hearing by highlighting the opposite trajectories taken by Moldova and Georgia in the recent years in the context of both countries’ Euro-Atlantic integration, with Moldova being “on the path to become a post-Soviet success story.”
“Across the Black Sea, Georgia has sadly followed a very different path than Moldova in recent years,” Kean continued. He outlined the decades of cooperation between the United States and Georgia since the collapse of the Soviet Union. “Since Georgia gained its independence from the Soviet Union, Georgian people have shown fierce determination to throw off the country’s Soviet past and pursue a closer relationship with the United States and Europe,” he remarked. Talking in the context of U.S.-Georgian military cooperation, Kean highlighted that “Georgians have fought and spilled blood not just to defend their own country against Russia’s war of aggression in 2008 but also alongside US service members. Georgia was the first of the largest non-NATO troop contributors to International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan.”
Against this background of mutual cooperation and assistance, Kean said, “the recent actions of the current Georgian government, led by the Georgian Dream party, are so disappointing.” He said that “Georgia’s foreign agents law has ruptured Georgia’s relationship with the West,” explicitly naming the legislation passed in the Parliament by the Georgian Dream as a threat that reverses Georgia’s decades-long hard-fought progress toward Euro-Atlantic integration.
The actions by the Georgian Dream “spit in the face of the Georgian people, an overwhelming majority of which support joining the European Union,” he concluded.
Bill Keating, Chairman of the Europe, Energy, the Environment and Cyber subcommittee of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, had two messages for the Georgian government and the Georgian people. The Georgian government’s actions “have not and will not go unanswered,” he stated, highlighting the implementation of visa restrictions on Georgian Dream officials by the State Department and the potential imposition of economic sanctions. Keating reassured to the Georgian people that “this Congress and administration will continue as we have for the last three decades to support you in your efforts.”
Testimonies
Joshua Huck, Deputy Assistant Secretary at the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs at the U.S. Department of State, opened his remarks by noting the continued support of the State Department to the democratic aspirations of the Georgian people, further making it clear to the Georgian government that it is headed in the wrong direction.
“We are working closely with interagency colleagues on additional steps, including a potential redirection or suspension of assistance programs and the cancellation of policy engagements. The Department of Defense recently announced the indefinite postponement of military exercises in Georgia,” he said. “It remains our hope that Georgian leaders will reconsider their actions and return to Georgia’s long-stated Euro-Atlantic aspirations,” Huck said.
He thanked the members of the Committee for holding the hearing and said: “This hearing comes at an extremely important time in both our bilateral relationship and for the future of democracy in Georgia.” He further noted: “The Georgian government has been deviating sharply from the country’s past democratic trajectory putting its Euro-Atlantic aspirations and its relationship with the United States at risk. It has passed undemocratic legislation, demoniზed civil society and issued disinformation and rhetorical attacks against the Untied states and the European partners, who have supported Georgia for decades.” Joshua Huck further spoke about the Foreign Agents’ law, its similarity to the similar Russian law, saying the law “symbolizes the country’s anti-democratic shift”, and spoke about its adverse effects on Georgian civil society and democracy. He underlined that the law was adopted in spite of mass protests by citizens, appeals by Georgia’s international partners, and CoE Venice Commission’s findings.
He reviewed the developments in the context of the US-Georgia relations, including the sanctions against the corrupt judges, against former Prosecutor General Otar Parstkhaladze, visa restrictions against Georgian individuals taken in response to undermining democracy in Georgia, the indefinitely postponing of the Noble Partner military exercise, and the ongoing comprehensive review of the bilateral relations.
Steps to remedy Georgia’s democratic backsliding outlined by Huck include repealing the foreign agents law, ceasing the spread of disinformation about the United States, stopping the progress of other undemocratic legislation, and ensuring the pre-election period and the October parliamentary election are conducted freely and fairly.
He underscored the crucial importance of free and fair parliamentary elections, the “steadfast” support to Georgian civil society. “The Georgian people must decide the future of Georgia so we must remain mindful of threats to Georgia from Russia, which still occupies 20% of Georgia’s territory,” he said.
“I want to reaffirm that despite these difficult times, the United States’ commitment to the Georgian people remains steadfast and unchanged. Americans and Georgians share a special friendship grounded in our shared values of the love of liberty and independence. We will continue to support the further development of a vibrant, secure, and democratic Georgia,” he concluded.
Alexander Sokolowski, Deputy Assistant Administrator at the Bureau for Europe and Eurasia at USAID, began by saying that “in Georgia we are now facing a moment of profound concern for the country’s future.” He spoke of protests against the Foreign Agents’ law and said: “The recent passage of the Foreign Agents law is an unnecessary step in the wrong direction, which is threatening civil society and polarizing Georgia,” Sokolowski said. He replied that the law is alarming not only because it is based on the Russian foreign agents law, but also “because of the model of governance that it represents, one of increasing stigmatization and distrust toward civil society and restriction of activities.”
He elaborated on the efforts to strengthen democracy and development of Georgia by the USAID, expressing regret that Georgia has swerved from the democratic trajectory.
“Given the gravity of the current situation in Georgia”, Sokolowski emphasized the need to continue the ongoing review of bilateral cooperation between the United States and Georgia.
Speaking about the crucial parliamentary elections in October Sokolowski said: “USAID is supporting a robust multifaceted set of programs to foster free and fair elections: this includes pre-election assessment missions , long term and short term international and domestic observation, support for transparent accountable election administration and independent media’s coverage of the elections.” He further added: “More than ever we believe that comprehensive oversight from multiple sources will be crucial for ensuring of integrity of electoral process and ensuring public trust.”
Questions
Following the testimony, the witnesses were questioned by U.S. Representatives Thomas Kean, Joe Wilson, Madeleine Dean, Ann Wagner, Dina Titus, Jim Costa, and Bill Huizenga.
Foreign Agents Law and FARA
In response to Chairman Kean’s question about the differences between the Georgian Foreign Agents Act and the American FARA, Huck explained that the Georgian Act only targets civil society and media organizations, while FARA exempts media organizations as long as 80 percent of the ownership is American. Georgia does not make that distinction and moreover “specifically targets the media.” Another difference is that the Georgian law focuses on where the funding comes from and makes no distinction as to what the organization is or does, while FARA looks at an organization’s actions, he stressed.
Representative Dean followed up with a question regarding the existent equivalent legislation in Russia, to which Huck replied that there are indeed strong similarities both in the nature of the law and on the intent, particularly as the GD government “intends to use it to punish critics of [Georgian Dream’s] rule.”
Impact of the Foreign Agents Law on U.S. Implementing Partners in Georgia
Responding to a question about the impact of the law on the State Department and USAID’s implementing partners in Georgia by representatives Kean and Dean, Sokolowski stated that the particular steps to be taken by both agencies will be clearer once the law’s implementing guidelines come out in August. In the meantime, “our mission in Tbilisi has been working with our partners on what we’re calling a ‘lean-in’ strategy with civil society as we help them to weather this transition in the environment and to offer them sets of services that, to this point, they have not needed.”
Regional Security and Chinese Influence
Representative Costa questioned Huck about the lessons learned in Georgia’s democratic backsliding that could help deal with democratic resilience and other efforts in the region that the U.S. is involved with. Huck said that the U.S. remains concerned with Russia’s broader malign intentions in the whole of South Caucasus. “Clearly, Russia sees this region as an area that it should have preeminence over, and it would like to see weak, divided, and isolated countries on its border that it can take advantage of,” Huck concluded.
Representative Huizinga questioned Huck about the construction of the Anaklia port and the interplay between the Chinese-Russian alliance and Chinese influence in Georgia more specifically. Huck responded that the U.S. is particularly concerned with some of the companies involved in the consortium that are contracted to build the port. He highlighted that one of the companies involved in the project has been identified by the U.S. as having ties to China’s military-industrial complex.
In response to Representative Wagner’s question about potential regional security concerns accompanying the construction of the port, Huck noted that “it is surprising that the Georgian Dream government has decided that China, who is bankrolling Russia’s war in Ukraine, the same country that occupies 20% of Georgian territory, is an appropriate strategic partner for Georgia.” He further stated that the U.S. has raised this issue with the Georgian government, urging the government to look at this project as a strategic risk. “As they look at any perceived economic benefit from partnering with China,” he said, “the Georgian government needs to look at the cost and the risks of dependence on China and thereby opening up themselves to economic coercion.”
Administration’s Plans and Actions for Free and Fair Elections
Representative Wilson asked Huck and Sokolowski about the administration’s plans to ensure that the October elections are free and fair. Noting that the Georgian government, while insulting and attacking the U.S. and other partners, is misleading its supporters them believing that Georgia is still on the Euro-Atlantic and EU-European integration path, Huck stressed the importance of “clear and high-level direct messaging to the government of Georgia that they are headed in the wrong direction, to make clear what to do to return to the path of Euro-Atlantic trajectory.” Sokolowski added that the U.S. needs to focus on the electoral process to help Georgia move in the right direction by facilitating the work of pre-election assessment missions and election observers.
Future Actions and Sanctions
Representative Wagner asked Joshua Huck whether the State Department plans to take additional steps to hold Georgian Dream officials accountable for their actions, to which the latter responded that “this is an active process that demands looking at every tool we have to hold individuals accountable in Georgia for corruption, violation of human rights, or undermining democracy.” The State Department is unable to publicly preview these potential steps since they are still in the works. Huck mentioned previous economic sanctions, which the U.S. has implemented in the past, along with visa restrictions on corrupt judges.
Huck further emphasized the need to recognize that the Georgian Dream government is falsely “trying to have it both ways.” “They want to criticize the United States and the European partners, and at the same time, they tell their own people that they are still on track for membership in the EU,” he said. “It is unconscionable.”
