The world has turned upside down in Georgia: former US ambassador

The process of Georgia’s distancing from the West continued for several years, but became especially challenging after the passage of the Foreign Agents Act, former US Ambassador to Georgia Ian Kelly said on September 2 at the 8th Tbilisi International Conference: “2024 is a decisive year.”

“I feel that the world has turned upside down in Georgia. Although the pro-Western line continues, what is happening at the government level is truly confusing. The process of distancing itself from the West has been going on for several years, but the real change in relations with us, the US government, was the law on foreign agents.”said Kelly.

According to him, Georgia has “pro-Westernism” in its genes, which is why the United States provided significant financial support. He added that recent developments in the country, especially the adoption of the Foreign Influence Transparency Act, have led the United States to suspend direct assistance to the Georgian government and fund only non-governmental organizations.

“I never would have thought I would see a time when we would stop all direct assistance to the government of Georgia, but here we are: we have stopped direct assistance to the government of Georgia and we have cancelled the Worthy Partner program.said the former US ambassador to Georgia.

Recall that the Transparency of Foreign Influence Act was passed by the Georgian parliament in May 2024 and is a very weak copy of a similar US law; subsequently, the United States announced a review of relations with Georgia, a reduction in funding and the introduction of sanctions against those involved in the adoption of this law.

Source: Rossa Primavera