Georgia’s Ambassador Bakradze Assesses U.S. Congressmen’s Letters

David Bakradze, Georgian Ambassador to the United States, commented on the letters sent by the U.S. Congressmen to the Georgian government.

In the interview with Imedi TV on January 26, Ambassador Bakradze divided the letters into two categories – the letter sent by Adam Kinzinger and Gerald E. Connolly, Co-Chairs of the U.S. Congressional Georgia Caucus and the joint letter sent by four Congressmen, together with the letter by Congressman Mullin, which also mention the dispute between the Georgian Oil and Gas Corporation and U.S. based Frontera Resources company.

“The tone, in which the Congressmen supporting Frontera address the Georgian Prime Minister – the Prime Minister of the United States’ strategic partner state – is absolutely unacceptable,” he said, noting that “we have long experience of relations with the Congressmen supporting this company.”

Ambassador Bakradze explained that Texas (home state to the Republican Michael McCaul , one of the signatories of the letter of four)  and Oklahoma (home to the Republican Congressman Mullin) are the places of origin of Frontera Resources and “accordingly, these Congressmen have their own reasons to support the company, which has a legal dispute with Georgia.”

“In this context, we have seen a lot of letters, draft resolutions, including draft legislative acts [that] had been submitted twice against the Georgian government, which received no follow-up in the U.S. Congress,” the Georgian Ambassador said.

Concerning the letter sent by the Georgia Caucus, Bakradze noted that it contains “factual inaccuracies” regarding the country’s economic growth, investments and country’s foreign policy orientation. Ambassador Bakradze said certain people providing the congressmen with inaccurate information “are putting them in an awkward situation.”

Bakradze noted that the Georgian side has already started working to provide the U.S. partners with comprehensive and accurate information, as well as to underline the inaccuracies outlined in the letter.

Read also:

• January 23, 2020: U.S. Congressman Babin Concerned over Georgia’s ‘Backsliding from Democratic Values’
• January 21, 2020: Four US Congressmen Address Georgian PM with ‘Concerns over Political Targeting, Declining Economic Trend’
• January 13, 2020: U.S. Congressman Speaks of ‘Negative Trend in Democratic, Free-Market Economic Indicators’ in Georgia
• December 20, 2019: Senator Risch ‘Deeply Concerned’ by Reports of Political Targeting of Georgia Opposition
• December 13, 2019: U.S. Congressmen Express ‘Growing Concern’ as Georgia ‘Abandons Promised Political Reforms’
• December 6, 2019: House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Supports NDI, IRI’s Work in Georgia
• November 14, 2019: Congressman Kinzinger Calls on Georgian Officials to Pass Constitutional Amendment

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