US-Georgian Military Agreement Stirs Parliament Controversy

(Tbilisi, March 3, Civil Georgia) The US Ambassador to Georgia Richard Miles will meet the representatives of the Parliamentary factions, to lobby for ratification of the US-Georgian Agreement on Defense Cooperation.

On February 27, the Parliament launched the discussion on an Agreement, signed by the government of Georgia on December 10. But instead of an easy go-ahead for a step at increased defense partnership with the US, numerous objections of the MPs forced the parliament to postpone the voting. Some parliamentarians said the Agreement is “discriminating” against Georgia.

According to the document, the US government is entitled to access and use of mutually agreed territories and facilities in Georgia for use by the US government’s military and civilian personnel, transport, vessels, and aircraft or for any other purpose.

If the agreement is ratified, the US government’s military and civilian personnel will also be able to enter and leave the country without visas and passports, using only their ID cards, or under collective or individual orders. They will also enjoy privileges and immunities, similar to those of the administrative and technical staff of the embassy. According to the agreement, the military and civilian personnel will have the right to possess and carry arms on the Georgian territory. These simplified entry requirements and immunities triggered the basic objections of the MPs.

“The agreement has too many uncertainties. It does not clarify exactly what kind of arms the military and civilian personnel will have the right to carry. Besides, talking generally, why should an American military serviceman have the right to carry firearms on the whole territory of Georgia? I am against this,” MP Hamlet Chipashvili of Revival faction, one of the most active opponents of the Agreement told Civil Georgia.

Chipashvili also says that this agreement will be damaging for the budget, because “according to the agreement, this personnel, as well as any income or imported goods, or any property purchased or owned within Georgia, will be tax-exempt”.

The executive authorities are extremely concerned by the Parliament’s position. They say a failure to ratify the document might jeopardize the USD 64 million Train and Equip Program (GTEP) for the Georgian army.

“Ratification of the agreement is the necessary condition for successful implementation of the Train and Equip Program,” says Zviad Mukbaniani, Chairman of the Parliamentary Foreign Relations Committee.

In his traditional radio interview on March 3, President Shevardnadze criticized those Parliament members, who have forced postponement of discussion of the agreement.

“I cannot understand such attitude of these MPs towards the US-Georgian military cooperation agreement. Don’t they realize the importance of the matter? Such approach to the United State, which has already provided and continues providing such significant financial and military assistance, is completely incorrect,” Shevardnadze said.

On February 27, the agreement was returned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Foreign Relations Committee for further adjustments. But the chairman of the committee Zviad Mukbaniani believes there is nothing to be adjusted in the document.

“I am strongly against revising the agreement. This is a bilateral agreement, which the Parliament should either approve or reject. I am confident that next week the Parliament will ratify the agreement without unnecessary debates and discussions,” says Mukbaniani.

By Nino Khutsidze, Civil Georgia