"There is a campaign against the European path in Georgia, but the people will not support it" - US Ambassador Kelly Degnan

US Ambassador Degnan on Georgia’s Western future

US Ambassador to Georgia Kelly Degnan held a farewell press conference in Tbilisi on 27 August. Among other things, she said that “there are forces in Georgia that are campaigning to prevent the country from moving closer to EU membership.” However, she emphasised, “the majority of citizens support the pro-Western path and the country has made great progress towards EU and NATO”

Brief talking points from Degnan’s speech are below.

Kelly Degnan has been the US ambassador to Georgia since January 2020. For the next two years, she will serve as a senior foreign policy adviser in Washington. She will be succeeded as US ambassador by Robin Dunnigan, who until recently was the US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs.

Georgia’s very impressive progress towards the EU and NATO

“It’s the clear choice of the Georgian people to become members of the European Union, of NATO, and the United States is very privileged and proud to help Georgia along that path.

We have seen incredible progress, very impressive progress by Georgia, and we are here to help support that process to continue.

We are working with many, many, government ministries, we’re working at the local level on the steps that are needed, the reforms that are needed for Georgia to be eligible for European Union and NATO membership.

We want Georgia to succeed in that endeavor and that is why we have been working with Georgia so closely over the decades and we will continue to work with Georgia on that path because we are dedicated to Georgia’s success.”

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Campaign to undermine the country’s pro-Western path

“Unfortunately, I think there is a targeted campaign to try and undermine public support for European path of Georgia. […] I would say there is a very intensive propaganda campaign from pro-Russian forces in Georgia and in other countries as well, are trying to undermine that strong support, that strong partnership between the United States and Georgians.

It doesn’t seem to be working. Georgians are used to this kind of pro-Russia disinformation campaign. This kind of propaganda has been bombarding Georgians for many, many years, if not decades.

So, I am confident that when the truth is made available to Georgians, which is part of what the press does, what the media does, then Georgians will be able to make informed choices.

But I do think that it is important that those who are trying to confuse Georgians, those who are trying to divide this society or keep the divisions and polarization strong, those people need to be put aside.  Georgians need to hear the truth.  And, I don’t think anyone should fear the truth.

I hope that the media will continue to provide the public with accurate, balanced reporting because that is also such an important role in a democracy.”

Prospects for Georgia as it moves towards EU accession

“There’s a roadmap, very clear steps that need to be taken, and if those government leaders and political leaders follow that roadmap that’s been given to them and come together in an inclusive process, I think that shows the commitment of the political leaders here to fulfill the demands of their public, to reach the European Union at least the next stage.

But it also shows courage – it shows the political courage that’s necessary to do this hard work.

Reforms are difficult. I think everyone knows that.”

Georgia’s culture and values will be more protected in the European space

“What’s in the best interest of Georgia is to stay on the path to Europe. If you look around Europe, you see concrete benefits in terms of increased GDP, better jobs, better education, all around improved opportunities for the citizens there, and we want that for Georgia too.

Georgian citizens deserve to have all of those things. This is, I think, also the orientation of Georgia over centuries is toward Europe.

When I have read your literature, when I’ve learned about your history, it becomes even more clear that the values that we share, freedom, independence, rule of law, respect for human rights – these are values that have been part of Georgia’s culture for centuries. 

They are not new. They are not imposed on Georgia. These are coming from Georgia’s own traditions and histories. And becoming a part of the European Union means greater protection for your traditions and your cultures.

I think you’ll see that anytime you visit one of the member states in the European Union, just how rich and preserved and protected their individual cultures and traditions are. So that is not at risk. Georgia’s church, Georgia’s unique and wonderful culture, its traditions will continue on and in fact be better protected under the European Union system.”

On the electronic electoral system: what are its shortcomings

“The fact is that the majority of Georgians have never voted electronically before. So it’s common sense that they would need to have information about the process, how it works, how it’s done, and that only ensures that the election will go more smoothly, and that people, both the precinct workers and the voters themselves understand how electronic voting differs from what they’re used to in the past and how it works.

There’s nothing controversial about that – it’s common sense that you would need some kind of an education campaign. […]

The electronic voting proposal was put on the table by the political parties, not us. We actually encouraged moving slowly with that, or taking it step by step, because it is different and it is complicated. It’s also expensive to buy all the equipment.

And so, the idea of testing it on 10% of the precincts, and then I think the proposal was to, then in the next election, try 70% of the precincts and then take it from there based on how smoothly it went and where there were problems.

I think we were all surprised that it went from 10% to 90%. That’s quite ambitious.

And again, why it will be important that there is an information campaign for voters and a very good training campaign for precinct workers.

I’m confident that the Central Election Commission will do what’s necessary over the coming months.”

How to make the 2024 elections fair?

“Fair elections – you can just look at the ODHIR reports that are issued after the 2020 and the 2021 elections. No one called them fair. There were certain things that were good, I think, in 2020 they commented that it was a well administered election in the middle of COVID, that was quite a challenge.

So, there are positive things, but again, what we want to see is every election be a better election each time a better election […]

Part of the complaints last time was, again, comes back to the judiciary and the feeling of many voters who submitted complaints that their complaints were not given due process, were dismissed, summarily without investigation, without looking into the matter. […]

The election monitoring mission next year, I think, is because people recognize this is a very important election for Georgia in 2024. In 2020 international election observers were not able to come because of COVID, and I think that that was partly why there were so many questions and so many disputes at the end of the process.

Election monitoring is extremely important. That’s why it’s done all over the world for many, many different elections. It helps improve elections each and every time by pointing out where the problems were.  And more fundamentally, it gives voters confidence in the outcome, and it helps resolve differences in disputes in the right way, which is through the courts or through the election commission process.

But people have to have confidence in those institutions. That is part of what the United States is helping Georgia with and other friends of Georgia, is to strengthen those institutions so that fundamental processes like voting elections are run smoothly and are not challenged in the end.”

Why are there no direct flights to the US?

“There was a lot of progress made on the direct flights before COVID hit, and once COVID hit and the whole airline industry changed as well as some of the travel patterns changed, we basically had to start from scratch in terms of finding an airline that would be interested in making this part of their regular operations.

We continue to work on the direct flights.  I’m sure anybody who’s flown to the U.S. knows how great that would be to have that.”

Why is there no free trade agreement with the US?

“It’s important with free trade agreements to be sure it’s good for Georgia as well, because of course, when you have a free trade agreement, you’re opening up your market completely, and sometimes that works to Georgia’s benefit and sometimes it works to the other country’s benefit.

So it’s important that this be an agreement that’s beneficial to Georgia as well as to the United States.

But even without a free trade agreement, we have very good business trades, business connections between Georgians and American companies.  And, we work very hard at the embassy to promote that, to increase that, to connect Georgian businesses with American businesses, and we’ve had some real success in that.

I hope that we will see continued U.S. interest in investing in Georgia. I think there’s some great opportunities here, and we’ve seen energy companies come in, we’ve seen logistics companies come in, we’ve seen agriculture companies come in to work with Georgian businesses. S

o, we continued to do what we can to increase the amount of FDI between our two countries.”

Georgia’s values coincide with EU countries

“Georgia absolutely shares these values.  And, as I said, I have been just so impressed as I’ve learned about Georgia’s history and Georgia’s culture – how long these have been a part of Georgia’s culture – that deep love of freedom, that commitment to independence, that desire to live in a country, build a country that is based on respect for human rights, rule of law, for the fundamental principles that I think connect the United States and Georgia too, which is, again, a deep love of our faith, of our families, of freedom […]

I have no doubt that is going to continue to drive Georgia to make the reforms that are reflected in the 12 recommendation. Those twelve recommendations aren’t for the European Union, they’re for Georgia.

They’re the same reforms that Georgia has been working on since you regained your in independence. Building a strong resilient democracy is something that Georgians have been doing in 1918, and again, and since you regained your independence. 

And,  I’m confident that you will succeed in that, because I just feel that is what Georgians are made of – that’s your DNA is to live in a free, open, independent society.”

The main advice to all political forces, overcome polarisation

“The only regret I have is to see the polarization continuing in the country. 

All of the proposals that were reflected in the April 19th agreement were put on the table by the political parties themselves in one form or another. So this was not something that the United States or European Union created, this was something that was negotiated by Georgia’s political leaders.

That’s why it was such an important step forward when 129 out of 150 members of Parliament signed onto that April 19th agreement signed onto supporting the idea of working together constructively in the Parliament to advance Georgia’s reforms and advance Georgia’s best interests. […]

We hope that that is what Georgian political leaders will be doing in Parliament very soon, because that’s how democracy works.”