US State Department to allocate $88 million in support package to Georgia
The State Department said the funds would also be used to expand private-sector competitiveness and agricultural productivity, and attract foreign investment. Photo: Reuters
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The United States Department of State has $88 million in support for Georgia included in the draft budget for 2023, published on Monday.
The text of the Congressional Budget Justification for Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs states the assistance will support Georgia’s democratic and economic development, the country’s Euro-Atlantic integration, as well as in building resilience to counter the Kremlin influence.
Funding will help strengthen institutional checks and balances and the rule of law; support efforts led by Georgian civil society to advance democratic and economic development; improve access to independent, reliable, and balanced media; promote political pluralism; support reconciliation efforts including in Abkhazia and South Ossetia,” the document says.
The funds to be allocated for Georgia also provide for increasing energy security and advancing clean energy, promoting reforms necessary to foster economic development and diversification, advancing digitisation and strengthening cybersecurity and resilience.
The State Department said the funds would also be used to expand private-sector competitiveness and agricultural productivity, and attract foreign investment.
Georgia’s “greatest victory” will be “its success in building a prosperous, secure, vibrant democracy”, United States Ambassador Kelly Degnan said on Sunday at a Tbilisi concert marking the 30th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili and President Salome Zourabichvili, along with US Ambassador to Georgia Kelly Degnan, attended a solidarity concert marking the 30th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries on Saturday evening.
The Georgia-US relationship today is “as strong as ever", and our friendship is based on “shared values”, said Irakli Garibashvili, the Prime Minister of Georgia, on the celebration of the 30th anniversary of diplomatic relations between two countries.
Americans and Georgians are “built for a long-term partnership” and the two nations look forward to the “next decades” of their cooperation, the United States Embassy in Tbilisi said on Thursday in a statement dedicated to the celebration of the 30th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries.
The United States is Georgia’s main strategic partner and “everything will be done” to deepen the relations between the two states, Irakli Kobakhidze, the head of the ruling Georgian Dream party, said on Wednesday.
The United States is the most important strategic partner for Georgia and by appointing former Foreign Minister David Zalkaliani as Ambassador to the US the Georgian Government wants to take the existing relations to “another level”, Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili said on Monday in a briefing.
Representing Georgia in the United States, Georgia's "main strategic partner", is a huge responsibility, the former Minister of Foreign Affairs David Zalkaliani said on Monday following his appointment as Georgia’s Ambassador to the US.
American Senator Chris Coons, who is the Chairman of the Appropriations Subcommittee on State and Foreign Operations and member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, will lead a congressional delegation this week in visits to France, Georgia and Italy.
US Senator Chris Coons expressed his hope the European Union would “swiftly” welcome Georgia as a new member during a joint press point with Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili in Tbilisi on Thursday.
The United States supports Georgia’s NATO aspirations and the country is already an important partner of the alliance, Ned Price, the Spokesperson for the Department of State, said in a press briefing on Tuesday.
The United States will allocate $35 million to Georgia for the country to strengthen its defence capabilities against threats from Russia, Voice of America's Georgian service reported on Wednesday.
The United States House of Representatives has approved the Georgia Support Act, establishing a “strategic partnership” between the two countries “at the legislative level”, the Georgian foreign office said on Thursday.
Establishing a free trade agreement between Georgia and the United States would be a “clear signal” of increased US economic interests in Georgia and contribute to the country’s Euro-Atlantic integration aspirations and economic development, Georgia's Ambassador to the US David Zalkaliani said on Tuesday.
Derek Chollet, the Counselor of the United States Department of State, will visit Tbilisi on Wednesday and Thursday for consultations with Georgian partners about European security and democratic development, the State Department said on Monday.
The strategic Georgia-United States partnership and Georgia’s Euro-Atlantic integration questions were discussed on Monday in a conversation between Ambassador of Georgia to the United States David Zalkaliani and the Counselor of the US Department of State Derek Chollet.
Derek Chollet, the Counselor of the United States Department of State, said on Wednesday he would discuss a “shared vision” of Georgia “fully integrated into the Euro-Atlantic family of nations” during his visit to Tbilisi, which started today.
The United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday Congratulated the people of Georgia on Independence Day and vowed support for the country’s territorial integrity and sovereignty.
The 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Georgia and the United States was celebrated in a gala reception hosted by the Georgian Embassy in Washington DC on Friday.
The United States’ support for Georgia and strategic partnership between the two countries were discussed in a meeting involving Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili and Karen Donfried, the US Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, on Friday.
The United States Ambassador to Georgia Kelly Degnan, who is attending an annual gathering of US ambassadors in Washington, on Friday vowed her country would support Georgia’s Euro-Atlantic path.
A new piece of bipartisan legislation, introduced by Senator Jeanne Shaheen, the Chair of the United States Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Europe and Regional Security Cooperation and Senator Mitt Romney, on Wednesday directed the Biden administration to develop a strategy towards the Black Sea region, which it said had “increasingly become a critical inflection point for European and global security amid Vladimir Putin’s unprovoked war in Ukraine”.
Georgian Ambassador to the United States David Zalkaliani on Thursday hailed the legislation introduced by two US senators for increased military assistance for Black Sea countries including Georgia by saying the move marked “the first time” the Senate had asked a US administration to develop a strategy for the region.
The United States embassy “appreciates” the support and cooperation provided by the Georgian law enforcement agencies in response to the security issue on the territory of the embassy in Tbilisi, the embassy said in its statement on Tuesday.