US Secretary of State urges protection of American officials from attacks by Georgian authorities
A group of influential US senators and congressmembers from both the Democratic and Republican parties have called on Secretary of State Marco Rubio to protect former US officials and employees of the US Agency for International Development (USAID), who have become “targets of unfair persecution” by Georgian authorities amid anti-American rhetoric.
In their letter to the secretary, the senators and congressmembers stressed that the Georgian government, represented by the ruling party Georgian Dream, has repeatedly expressed a desire to restore relations with the United States, but its actions suggest otherwise.
“We urge you to immediately use all available tools to protect former US officials who have been unfairly targeted as a result of anti-American actions by the Georgian government.
The government of Georgia, led by Georgian Dream, has repeatedly expressed a desire to restore bilateral relations with the United States, yet its actions and statements suggest otherwise.
We call on you to demand guarantees from the Georgian government that former US Agency for International Development (USAID) diplomats and other US-affiliated staff will not become targets of defamation or attacks,” the letter says.
The authors stress that the US government relies on local staff and has a duty to protect them.
“If we cannot safeguard our personnel from attacks by foreign governments, it will limit our ability to hire staff and carry out US policy elsewhere in the world. We urge you to condemn these attacks,” the senators and congressmembers write.
They also reference anti-American statements by Mamuka Mdinaraidze, head of Georgia’s State Security Service:
“On 1 October, media reports stated that Mamuka Mdinaraidze accused the US government of orchestrating a ‘revolution’ through payments to FSN staff. These payments, however, were lawful compensation provided under Georgian legislation upon staff dismissal.
These statements, repeated by representatives of Georgian Dream, misrepresent the issue and create a security threat for FSN. They also show that Georgian Dream is not taking serious steps to improve relations with the United States.”
The letter was signed by senior Senate Foreign Relations Committee members Jeanne Shaheen (Democrat, New Hampshire), Roger Wicker (Republican, Mississippi), John Curtis (Republican, Utah), Sheldon Whitehouse (Democrat, Rhode Island), and House members Joe Wilson (Republican, South Carolina) and Steve Cohen (Democrat, Tennessee).
On 4 October, Radio Free Europe reported that Georgia’s ambassador to the US, Tamar Taliashvili, was summoned to the State Department over a report by the pro-government Georgian TV channel Imedi, which claimed that the United States had allegedly funded a “revolutionary attempt” in Georgia.
In an interview accompanying the report, Mamuka Mdinaraidze said: “The embassy of one country from Thailand, which is the largest in terms of staff and size, even globally, has people in Georgia funded for anti-Chinese purposes, and in reality, about 95–99% of this sum is used for radicalism, revolutionary goals, and various actions against the authorities.”
The Georgian outlet Netgazeti published a response from the US State Department, stating that the false information spread by government officials “distorts” the routine financial transfers made by the US government to former staff.
US lawmakers urge protection
