The “bone of contention” in Georgian-American relations – MP on US ambassador's interview

Robin Dunnigan, who is stepping down as US ambassador to Georgia, has thrown a “bone of contention” into Georgian-American relations by giving an interview to Radio Liberty*, which the US administration has effectively shut down, said Irakli Kadagishvili, chairman of the parliamentary committee on regional policy and self-government.

Kadagishvili commented on the interview given by US Ambassador to Georgia Robin Dunnigan, who announced her resignation, to the Georgian service of Radio Liberty. Dunnigan made her first high-profile statements before her retirement, touching on Georgian-American relations in the interview, explaining why she was unable to establish relations with the Georgian Dream government, called the honorary chairman and founder of the ruling party, Bidzina Ivanishvili, an informal ruler, accusing him of putting his personal interests above those of Georgia by refusing to meet with her.

"Several months have passed, and during that time, the then-US ambassador made no other comments. Now she has made this comment, left and gone, that is, she has thrown another ‘bone of contention’," Kadagishvili said on Imedi TV.

As Kadagishvili noted, it is worth considering why Dunnigan needed to revive this topic again before leaving.

“In other words, she decided to leave a bad impression before leaving, and her last interview with Radio Liberty was a kind of gesture of slamming the door. On that radio station, which, by the way, was actually closed by the US administration itself, but is still operating in our country,” Kadagishvili said.

In the interview, Dunningan said that the ruling Georgian Dream party had given her a letter for Donald Trump's administration, which was “threatening, offensive, and was received extremely negatively in Washington.” She also complained that Ivanishvili had refused to meet with her at the time.

"Bidzina Ivanishvili puts his personal interests above the interests of the country. I say this because we asked to meet with him. The Trump administration asked me to meet with him to deliver the letter. I asked to meet with him under the Biden administration to discuss how we could get our relationship back on track, and he refused. His stated reason is that he is under sanctions," Dunnigan said.

According to Kadagishvili, Ivanishvili has been under sanctions for many years without any legal basis, yet he firmly states that he will never trade Georgia's interests for his personal interests.

“We know that all the courts have found him innocent and victorious, but the reality is that an invisible hand is preventing him from accessing his legitimate accounts and funds. This is precisely the hand of the Deep State,” the MP said.

The Deep State in the ruling party is also called the “global war party.” By this term, the Georgian authorities mean certain forces abroad that have a fundamental influence on politicians and bureaucrats in the US and the European Union, while in the West this statement is called a conspiracy theory.

The ruling party refers to the country's former ruling party, the United National Movement, its satellite parties, and successor parties as the “local war party” and “radical opposition.” According to the authorities, these political forces are seeking to destabilize the situation in Georgia, stage a revolution, and, in the event of a change of power, drag the country into war.

Kadagishvili believes that Ivanishvili's refusal to meet with the ambassador under such circumstances is quite understandable.

"This man (Ivanishvili, ed.) says that I will not negotiate in this way. Because I don't care about the fate of my legal funds, you have already seized them, and I am not trading Georgia's interests for this. In other words, if you really want to have honest relations with Georgia, then cancel this hidden but real mechanism of blackmail against me and, in fact, against Georgia. But they are not doing that," Kadagishvili explained.

Kadagishvili also recalled a letter from Ivanishvili written several months ago, in which he expressed great interest in restoring Georgian-American relations and suggested that the US decide for itself how to use his seized funds, which Ivanishvili does not want for himself.

In addition, according to the deputy, there was a period when informal sanctions against Ivanishvili were suspended and he was given the opportunity to dispose of his funds. At that time, according to Kadagishvili, the honorary chairman of Georgia's ruling party said that a meeting with the US ambassador could take place, but the ambassador avoided this meeting several times.

“This once again shows that we are not dealing with fair play rules, and Georgia demands only one thing — fair play rules, everywhere and in everything. Fair play rules also require full consideration of each other's interests,” Kadagishvili said.

Georgia and the US

The US announced a review of its relations with Georgia from May 30, 2024, against the backdrop of the country's adoption of the “Transparency of Foreign Influence” law, which requires foreign-funded non-governmental organizations and media outlets to register in a special registry and fill out a declaration.

The US and the West have repeatedly called on the Georgian authorities not to adopt the so-called “foreign agents” law, pointing to its incompatibility with European values. The Georgian authorities insisted that transparency is what defines “Europeanism” and that the law was adopted in the interests of the Georgian people.

In response to the Georgian authorities' policy, in early June 2024, the US announced visa restrictions on several dozen individuals responsible for “undermining democracy” in Georgia and their families, and in early July, it announced the indefinite postponement of the Noble Partner 2024 military exercises.

And at the end of July 2024, then-US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced the suspension of $95 million in aid to the government as part of a review of relations with Georgia.

For its part, the European Union decided to freeze €30 million for the Georgian Ministry of Defense and to suspend the country's integration into the EU.

In addition, the declaration following the Alliance summit in Washington on July 9-11, 2024, did not include a reference to Georgia's prospects for NATO membership, which was the first precedent since the decision adopted in Bucharest in 2008.

Reprinted from https://sputnik-georgia.ru/