US 2021 budget offers $700 mln to counter Russian influence, strengthen allies
Georgia has received $4,348,400,000 in financial aid from the United States between 1992 and 2020. Photo: US embassy, Tbilisi.
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US President Donald Trump has proposed a $4.8 trillion budget for the 2021 fiscal year, which offers $700 million in aid for the US allies in Europe, Eurasia and Central Asia to counter Russian influence.
Now it is up to the Congress to decide.
The budget provides $0.7 billion for assistance to Europe, Eurasia, and Central Asia to advance shared security; safeguard the territorial integrity of U.S. allies; support partner countries’ efforts to transition away from Russian military equipment; and address weaknesses in the macro-economic environment that the government of Russia seeks to exploit, such as dependence on energy and trade,” the budget draft reads.
The budget also provides $24 million for the Global Engagement Center to counter Russian propaganda and disinformation.
Georgia ranks 49th among 154 countries in the Global Militarization Index (GMI) 2019 with a score of 660.13, reads the report by the Bonn International Center for Conversion (BICC). The Global Militarization Index expresses the relative weight and importance of the military apparatus of a country in relation to its society as a whole.
The Georgian government has opened the first ever, modern rehabilitation centre for wounded soldiers in the country with about 4.5 million USD in support from the US. "A state which has 20 per cent of its territories occupied [by Russia] is obliged to care about its soldiers,”Gakharia said, thanking the US for the financial aid, stating that the Georgian government spent one million GEL on the project.
The Georgian parliament has ratified amendments to the USAID Development Assistance Agreements with the government of Georgia which allows USAID/Georgia to move forward with more than $64 million in funding to strengthen Georgia's self-reliance and Euro-Atlantic aspirations, USAID in Georgia reported earlier today.
Georgia has received $4,348,400,000 in financial aid from the United States between 1992 and 2020, the Congressional Research Service Report reads.
The US Government will allocate funds for two new, “large-scale” projects in Georgia and the donation for both projects will amount to $1.2 million, the government of Georgia press office has reported.The Georgian government says that the US will provide $500,000 to support entrepreneurs in the villages at the occupation line in Georgia and $700,000 for the construction of a children’s hematology-oncology center in Tbilisi.
The US Government has plans to provide $500,000 to fund new enterprises in the Georgian villages along the Russian-occupied territories, the US embassy to Georgia has reported. "Residents along the occupation line need special support,” the embassy said