U.S. Official: Georgia Can not Afford Military Adventurism

Daniel Fried, the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, said on April 7 that “Georgia can not afford military adventurism” and added there should be “no military answer” to the Abkhaz and South Ossetian conflicts.

Fried was speaking during a roundtable discussion with participants of the Edward R. Murrow Program for Journalists, a new State Department initiative that brings 129 journalists from around the world, including from Georgia, to the United States.

Daniel Fried also said that Georgia has made progress since the 2003 Rose Revolution, but added that “Georgia was in pretty bad shape” before the revolution “so I see progress from a pretty low base.”

“This progress needs to be sustained for a long time.  Civil society has to be strengthened, the economy has to develop, the state has to become functional, but not authoritarian,” Fried said.