Reactions to visit of Senator Shaheen and Congressman Turner to Georgia

On August 9-11, Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Congressman Mike Turner (R-OH 10th District) visited Georgia. They held meetings with the President of Georgia Salome Zurabishvili; Prime Minister of Georgia Irakli Kobakhidze; Defense Minister Irakli Chikovani; and CSOs’ representatives. During their bipartisan visit, they also held a informal meeting with representatives of the Georgian political parties and visited Tskhinvali occupation line.

We have collected the assessments of the U.S. delegation’s visit by the ruling party and the opposition:

Ruling Party

Irakli Kobakhidze, Prime Minister of Georgia: “What is unfortunate for me is that although there are frequent meetings- I also had a personal meeting with these people, the Senator and the Congressman a few days ago- but the conversations remain conversations. We have told our colleagues very clearly how we see the reset of Georgian-American relations. First of all, it is important and necessary that in the next one year we do not see such processes as we have seen in the last four years, for example, what the former American Ambassador was doing. Against this background, against the background of these problems that have been artificially created in the last 4 years, it is necessary to reset relations. Resetting relations requires a fair, correct, healthy approach. Steps have been taken on our side, we are in standby mode, we are waiting for reciprocal steps to be taken by our American colleagues”.

Mamuka Mdinaradze, parliamentary majority leader of the Georgian Dream party: “Even in Google [Mike Turner] is mentioned as one of the most corrupt Congressmen, which is very sad. And it is also sad that such people come and give critical assessment to the “Georgian Dream”, while the same people, and not only them, sometimes refer to other countries that have not yet really have democratic achievements, as oases. There are specific reasons for this, and Georgian society is already well aware of them.”

Kakha Kaladze, Tbilisi Mayor: “At the level of statements, what we heard from them was a campaign of lies about the transparency law. They claimed that transparency is bad. When I’m doing something wrong, if you’re my friend, you should tell me what I’m doing wrong. We did not hear any arguments about the law, they only had one answer – because. That is not the right attitude. We respect the strategic partners of the country, we are ready for friendship and cooperation, but it should be mutual. I think that these relations have reached a dead end and need to be restarted. The Government of Georgia is taking concrete steps to deepen existing relations…”

Opposition

Irakli Kupradze, Lelo/Coalition “Strong Georgia”: “Shaheen’s unequivocal messages to the Georgian people are, first of all, that continuing on the path of the European integration, on the one hand, and have Georgian Dream in power, on the other hand, is impossible and incompatible. She saw clearly once again that Bidzina Ivanishvili and his team will not change their pro-Russian policy. They did not hear any reasoned response to the past mistakes and their Russian actions, and they did not hear any promises about changes in the future”.

Anna Dolidze, For People/ Coalition “Strong Georgia”: “The rhetoric of the Georgian Dream regarding American support is absolutely unacceptable, especially when it comes to the military sphere. As for this matter in general, I think that every line, every word coming from the U.S. is very important, because we are in a particularly sensitive period. A historic election is on the horizon. Jeanne Shaheen’s visits are always characterized by their periodicity, she arrives when the moments are decisive”.

Zurab Japaridze, Girchi More Freedom/”Coalition for Change“: “What we heard was that no reset can happen until the Russian law is withdrawn, and until the anti-Western propaganda is stopped… That Ivanishvili himself has not met them is telling. But the fact that the senators themselves underlined this shows that everything has been revealed, that they know exactly who is managing the processes in this country, who is the source of all these problems”.

Teona Akubardia, Independent MP: “Although the strategic partnership has been suspended because of the Georgian Dream, the bipartisan visit once again shows that the United States continues to support the Western vector of the Georgian people, including the elections, which will be crucial in this regard; they will help us significantly through observation missions.”

Also Read:

• 11/08/2024 – Senator Shaheen, Congressman Turner Talk U.S.-Georgia Relations, Elections, GD Disinformation

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