Risch, Shaheen Welcome State Department Pausing U.S. Bilateral Assistance to Georgia

U.S. Senators Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Chair of the Europe and Regional Security Cooperation Subcommittee of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, issued a joint statement welcoming the U.S. State Department’s decision to pause USD 95 million in assistance to the government of Georgia following the passage of the Foreign Agents Law, which they say will be used “to target civil society and human rights organizations fighting for a free and democratic future.”

Noting that the U.S. has been a “proud supporter” of Georgia since the country’s independence in 1991 and worked alongside the government “to strengthen its institutions and support its territorial integrity” after the 2008 Russo-Georgian war, the Senators say: “The Georgian government has wrongly believed that its rejection of its citizens’ democratic aspirations would have no bearing on its relationship with the United States.”

The Senators stress that the State Department’s decision to pause assistance to the Georgian government “sends a message that United States assistance is not unconditional and the government’s actions have real consequences.”

However, they also note that despite the pause in assistance to the Georgian government, “the United States remains committed to the Georgian people’s aspirations for a transatlantic future,” and that the State Department’s decision reflects one provision of the Georgian People’s Act, legislation introduced by these very Senators, which calls for a review of bilateral assistance to Georgia.

The Senators pledge that they will continue “to advocate for additional measures included in the bill that will hold the Georgian government accountable and help the Georgian people pursue their democratic path.”

“The United States stands ready to reengage when the government once again demonstrates its commitment to our shared goals,” the statement concludes.

While Georgia’s Western partners are already taking concrete steps against the Georgian Dream government for its unabashed anti-democratic moves, the much-criticized Foreign Agents Law is going into practical effect as of today, August 1. Civil society and media organizations that receive more than 20 percent of their funding from foreign powers will have to register in the special registry as entities “pursuing the interests of a foreign power.”

Since many of them have already vowed not to register as such “foreign agents” because they see this registration as “defamatory” to them, they will have to pay heavy fines.

Also Read:

• 01/08/2024 – Chair Cardin Welcomes “Accountability Measures in Response to Georgia’s Democratic Backsliding”
• 31/07/2024 – Bipartisan Leaders of Helsinki Commission Call for Sanctions Against Ivanishvili
• 31/07/2024 – Georgia in U.S. Senate Foreign Affairs Committee Hearing on “The Future of Europe”

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