Georgia in U.S. Senate Foreign Affairs Committee Hearing on “The Future of Europe”

On July 30, the U.S. Senate Foreign Affairs Committee held a hearing on “The Future of Europe,” at which Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs at the U.S. Department of State, Jim O’Brien, testified about U.S. assistance to Europe and questions regarding Euro-Atlantic integration, including concerning Georgia, Russia’s war in Ukraine, as well as the general situation in the South Caucasus and the Western Balkans. The hearing devoted a modest amount of time to Georgia, with the main messages being that its political elite has turned its back on the EU and NATO, and that the “way back” includes steps such as free and fair parliamentary elections, repeal of the Foreign Agents Law in its current form, and not allowing China to develop the port of Anaklia.

Georgia

“How do we continue to support the spirit of democracy in countries like Georgia, where the government has made efforts to undermine its own EU membership ambitions despite the overwhelmingly pro-EU aspirations of its people?” Shaheen said when opening the hearing.

In the context of the Foreign Agents law, Senator Shaheen highlighted that “there is bipartisan opposition to what’s happening in Georgia,” and said she hoped that the government of Georgia, too, understands that Congress sees it as a bipartisan issue. Shaheen urged U.S. authorities to use all tools at its disposal “to impose financial sanctions on individuals who are responsible for corruption and other actions that have contributed to the situation there [in Georgia].”

She then asked Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Jim O’Brien to provide an update on this effort by the State Department.

Georgian elites “are turning their backs on a path to the EU and NATO,” O’Brien said. “We are trying to be very clear about what must be done and how important it is because Georgia is asking to join clubs, one of which we are a member [of] and the other one is our key partner. And they don’t get to rewrite the rules of those clubs, so they get to join.”

Regarding U.S. support for Georgia, he noted the US is currently reviewing all of the assistance to Georgia and remarked that the U.S. very much wants “to support everything that will contribute to free and fair elections this fall…” However, the U.S. needs to make clear to the [GD] party that there will be real consequences. “We’ve already postponed a major military exercise, and we’ll continue to review what we are doing as opportunities arise, and I expect we will have something to say about that soon,” he said.

“We are actively considering our options there”, he said speaking of additional steps by the U.S., adding the sanctions would be concerning not only those who benefitted from corruption, but also “those who are involved in violation of human rights, as under the global Magnitsky act…” With respect to further steps to be taken by Congress, O’Brien emphasized that Congress is already developing legislation reviewing U.S. support for Georgia and that the State Department will support these efforts.

The hearing discussed what steps the Georgian government should take to reverse the current backsliding. “It should be clear to the governing party in Georgia that there is a path back. That having free and fair elections, without violence against civil society, making whatever transparency requirements they want, this Foreign Agents law… make be compatible with EU law rather than compatible with Russian law. And not having China develop a deep-water port in Anaklia—these are steps that are really important for Georgia to take,” O’Brien said.

He also noted: “The one group that seems very happy about this turn is Russia. If you look at the recent statements by their chief propagandists, they are welcoming this turn.”

“I want to praise the effort of members of Congress to get out there and deliver the message that, on a bipartisan matter, long-time friends of Georgia believe this is the wrong path. A year ago, we saw signs of the wrong path, and then the governing party reversed its course and made enormous strides. I’m hopeful that can happen again in the next months,” O’Brien concluded.

Key Issues Discussed during the Hearing

Opening the hearing, Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) focused her opening remarks on U.S. and NATO support for Ukraine’s independence, the forging of closer ties between the U.S. and its European partners, and U.S. support for the Euro-Atlantic aspirations of Georgia and the Balkans. In the context of the testimonies to be heard, she mentioned Georgia as one of the pressing agenda items, along with the challenges posed by China, support for Ukraine, the situation in the Balkans, raising awareness among the U.S. public about the threats posed by China and Russia, and so on.

Senator Pete Ricketts (R- Nebraska) underscored the threat of the Chinese-Russian alliance to Europe’s regional security. He said that the war in Ukraine “isn’t just about Putin’s war of aggression. It’s an opening salvo in a larger protracted fight that an axis of authoritarians is leading, including the People’s Republic of China, Russia, China, and North Korea.” “Strong words don’t deter dictators,” he concluded. “Only strong actions do that.”

Assistant Secretary of State Jim O’Brien highlighted the need for countries forming “the arc from the Caspian to the Adriatic” to foster closer ties with the United States. These are “a group of states that are looking to have less Russia but to be much closer to the rule of law that is offered by membership in the EU and NATO or by closer relationships. And across this area over the last two years, we’ve consistently seen a desire to have less Russia in place, and now we are seeing some pushback, sometimes fueled by Russia, sometimes by local elites, who like to be close to European banks but not the European rule of law.”

“We’re working in each one of those places to try to strengthen the platform that we’ve built,” he said.

O’Brien answered questions about the conflict in Nagorno Karabakh and Russian involvement in the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan; China’s strategic interests in Central Asia and its support for Russia in the war in Ukraine; the export of Ukrainian grain and Russia’s control over the global grain market; as well as the concrete steps the U.S. could take to best increase the chances of Ukraine winning the war, including intelligence sharing, weapons shipments, the striking of military targets inside Russian territory, and humanitarian assistance.