Mathew Miller, the U.S. State Department Spokesperson stated that U.S. suspended Strategic Partnership with Georgia. The decision comes after the ruling GD’s decision to unilaterally suspend EU accession negotiations.
Miller writes: “U.S. with EU regrets Georgian Dream’s decision to suspend EU accession. We condemn excessive force used against Georgians rightfully protesting this betrayal of their constitution—EU is a bulwark against Kremlin.”
The strategic partnership, reaffirmed in the US-Georgia Charter on Strategic Partnership, was signed on 9 January 2009. The first meeting of the Strategic Partnership Commission, held on in June 2009, established four bilateral working groups on priority areas identified in the Charter: democracy, defense and security; economic, trade and energy issues; and people-to-people and cultural exchanges.
In April 2023, the US imposed sanctions on judges, as well as Bidzina Ivanishvili’s crony and former Prosecutor General Otar Partskhaladze. It also imposed visa restrictions on GD officials and individuals responsible for Georgia’s democratic backsliding and human rights violations.
Meanwhile, two bills – the Georgian People’s Act and MEGOBARI – have been introduced in the US Congress, providing for further steps and measures, including sanctions, in response to the „GD’s anti-democratic policies.“
