Georgian FM Meets U.S. Deputy State Secretary

• Georgia ‘made significant progress’;
• U.S. calls for protecting ‘freedom, diversity’ of political parties, media;
• U.S. calls for strengthening independent judiciary;
• Georgia urged ‘the pace of reforms to continue;’
• Georgia pledges a battalion to the UN peacekeeping mission;
• Georgia wants to bring strategic partnership ‘to a qualitatively new level’;
• ‘Huge untapped potential for bolstering economic cooperation’;

U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken (left) and Georgia’s Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili (right), November 2, 2015. Photo: Georgian MFA

After meeting Georgia’s Foreign Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken praised Georgia for a “significant progress”, but also called for protecting “freedom and diversity” of political parties and media and strengthening of independent judiciary.
 
Blinken and Kvirikashvili met in Washington on November 2 before holding the fifth plenary session of the U.S.-Georgia Strategic Partnership Commission, which was established through strategic partnership charter signed by the two countries in January, 2009. The commission and its working groups address four priority areas identified in the charter: democracy; defense and security; trade and economy; people-to-people and cultural exchanges.

The U.S. Deputy Secretary of State said that the two countries have “the strong and vibrant partnership”; he praised Georgia for its contribution to the NATO-led mission in Afghanistan – the second largest by number of troops, and said that Georgia has pledged to contribute a battalion to the UN peacekeeping missions.

“From Central Africa to Central Asia, when the world asks for help, Georgia answers,” Blinken said. “We commend your pledge of a battalion to the UN peacekeeping mission and your remarkable contributions in Afghanistan.”

Blinken said that Georgia “has made significant progress” since the last plenary session of the U.S.-Georgia Strategic Partnership Commission in February, 2014, which was chaired by PM Irakli Garibashvili and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry.

“In less than two years Georgia held its first direct elections of mayors; it passed anti-discrimination legislation; it signed an Association Agreement with the European Union and hosted a foundational Silk Road Forum [in Tbilisi in October] to bolster the east-west trade corridor, something that the minister and I talked about,” Blinken said.

The Deputy Secretary of State said that this “progress is even more remarkable” as it occurred “in the face of Russia’s occupation and borderization with Georgian territories.”

He said that the U.S. welcomes Georgia’s “measured reactions to provocations on the administrative boundary lines”, apparently referring to erecting fences and “border” markers along the administrative boundary line with breakaway South Ossetia, which Russia continued this summer.

Blinken also welcomed Tbilisi’s outreach efforts to the residents of breakaway Abkhazia and South Ossetia. “We strongly encourage and fully support reconciliation efforts to bring about a peaceful and just resolution to the conflict,” he said.

He also said that “the best guarantor of peace, prosperity, and stability is an open, inclusive society where political pluralism thrives and the rule of law is respected.”

“We commend you on your progress and urge the pace of reforms to continue,” the U.S. Deputy Secretary of State told the Georgian Foreign Minister.

As Georgia moves toward parliamentary elections next year, Blinken said, fostering “a vigorous competition of ideas is vital to Georgia’s future” and to its path of Euro-Atlantic integration.

“To achieve this,” he said, “Georgia must support and strengthen two essential elements of democracy.”

“First, a strong and independent judiciary. We commend your recent reform efforts, including to Georgia’s domestic security apparatus and prisons, and urge you to deepen and broaden justice sector reforms in both legislation and in practice. It’s also imperative that people have faith in Georgia’s system of justice and know that it upholds their rights not only in rhetoric but in reality,” Blinken said.

“Second, an opposition. The governing coalition knows this more than anyone. We remain concerned, however, about preserving the space for an issue-based political dialogue. Georgia must continue to establish and maintain an environment in which members of political and minority groups can freely express their views, and the minister and I discussed some of the progress in that regard,” the Deputy Secretary of State said.

“In short, we look to you to protect the freedom and diversity of your political parties and media as one of the most important pillars of Georgia’s democracy,” he added.

The Georgian Foreign Minister noted that the bilateral strategic partnership remains “very strong” and added that the Georgian government is “strongly committed to taking U.S.-Georgia strategic partnership to a qualitatively new level.”

Kvirikashvili said that Georgia and the U.S. have “strong collaboration” in defense and security; the U.S. support, he said, enables Georgia “to significantly progress in defense transformation process.”

“Yet both the mounting regional challenges and the global turbulence put us all under the great pressure when it comes to the security of our nations,” the Georgian Foreign Minister said.
 
“Due to this strategic urgency,” he continued, “it will be critical to improve the security of Georgia through political, defense, and economic means in order to increase its defense capabilities, resilience, and deterrence.”

He also expressed hope that the NATO summit in Warsaw next year will “duly credit Georgia for the successful defense and security reforms” and “advance our country onto a next step towards the membership of the alliance.”

“The traditionally strong leadership of the United States will surely be indispensable in this regard. On our part, I am proud to reiterate that Georgia will continue to be strongly dedicated to the NATO Resolute Support Mission [in Afghanistan],” Kvirikashvili said.

The Deputy Secretary of State reiterated that the U.S. continues “to strongly support” Georgia’s NATO aspirations.

On trade and economic ties, the Georgian Foreign Minister said that there is “a huge untapped potential for bolstering” cooperation.

Last week Kvirikashvili met U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman and participated in a meeting of the U.S.-Georgia High-Level Trade and Investment Dialogue, which was launched in 2012 after meeting of President Barack Obama and then President of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili. At that meeting President Obama said that possibility of free trade agreement with Georgia would be explored. Kvirikashvili said that the High-Level Trade and Investment Dialogue is an important venue for discussing options for boosting bilateral economic ties, including “the possibility of a U.S.-Georgia free trade agreement.”

On democratic reforms, the Georgian Foreign Minister said that although “much has been done, we are well aware that democratic consolidation is an unending construct.”

“We will continue closely working with our foremost strategic partner, the United States, in those areas to reach the best international standards,” he added.

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