"The illusion that 'Georgian Dream' will improve relations with partners was dispelled after congressional discussions" – Opinion
Hearings in the U.S. Congress on Georgia
Valeri Chechelashvili, the founder of the “Center for Strategic Analysis,” commenting on the recent hearings on Georgia in the U.S. Congress, stated that the illusion that the “Georgian Dream” could improve relations with partners has been completely dispelled.
As Valeri Chechelashvili noted on “Palitra News,” such sharp assessments by congressmen clearly show that the problem is not about “war or peace,” but that the value system of the “Georgian Dream” party differs from that of the Western political class.
According to him, a political situation has been created where, on one side, there is the prime minister of Georgia, Irakli Kobakhidze, and on the other, 15-20 European capitals and Washington.
Hearings were held in the U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs focusing on the 2024 elections and U.S. policy towards Georgia and Moldova.
During the hearings, Deputy Secretary of State Joshua Huck discussed Georgia’s “foreign agents” law and responded to misinformation campaigns claiming that the law is similar to the U.S. Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA).
Republican Congressman Tom Kean stated that the threats from Georgian Dream’s honorary chairman and oligarch Bidzina Ivanishvili are more fitting for a ruthless dictator than for a close U.S. partner. He expressed anticipation to see how the Georgian people will respond to the government’s actions during the “critically important” parliamentary elections in October.
Valeri Chechelashvili commented, “We’ve never seen such harsh statements before: ‘ruthless dictator,’ ‘pro-Russian Georgian Dream’—such evaluations are rarely heard from politicians, especially in the U.S. and Europe, where political culture standards are high.
Due to its defense of the ‘Transparency of Foreign Influence’ law, Georgian Dream has drifted into anti-Western narratives. Mr. Joshua Huck, by the way, directly states that this law aims to demonize civil society and launch disinformation and false attacks against the West and the U.S.
These sharp assessments clearly show that the issue is not about war or peace, but that the value system of Georgian Dream as the ruling party is fundamentally different from the values upheld by the political classes in America and Europe.
Countries that Georgian Dream ostensibly wants to build relations with are saying that it won’t work because “you’ve made significant mistakes, and without correcting these errors, it won’t be possible”.
This message is coming from almost everyone, except for one or two people. Those one or two are Viktor Orbán [prime minister of Hungary] and theoretically maybe Robert Fico [prime minister of Slovakia]. Apart from Orbán, all other capitals are sending the same synchronized message to Georgian Dream, which is thought-provoking.
On one side is Mr. Irakli Kobakhidze, and on the other, 15-20 European capitals and Washington.”
