Georgian Parliament official, US Congress officials discuss strategic partnership

Nikoloz Samkharadze, the Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Georgian Parliament, on Thursday met Austin Scott, the United States Representative for Georgia's Eighth Congressional District, and Gerry Connolly, the Co-Chair of the Congressional Caucus on Georgia, to discuss directions of strategic partnership between the two countries.

The meeting, hosted during an official visit of a Georgian delegation to Washington, also discussed possibilities of expanding bilateral relations, the importance of Georgia joining NATO and the upcoming Washington Summit, scheduled to run on July 9-11 and feature heads of state and leaders of governments from the 32 NATO member and partner countries, as well as European Union representatives.

The officials also reviewed Russia's ongoing military aggression against Ukraine, situation in Georgia’s Russian-occupied regions of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali (South Ossetia), as well as the domestic political environment in the country prior to the parliamentary elections scheduled for October.

They also reviewed the controversial Georgian bill on transparency of foreign influence, which calls for registration of non-commercial legal entities and media outlets in the country as “pursuing the interests of a foreign power” if they derive more than 20 percent of their funding from abroad.

The parties pointed out the “need” for US involvement in the Black Sea and the importance of Georgia’s role in the US’s strategy for the region to ensure its status as “secure, prosperous, interconnected, and free from threats to territorial integrity and from economic coercion”.

The delegation also held meetings with representatives of the US Congress Gabe Amo, Mike Lawler and Wesley Hunt to discuss security challenges in the South Caucasus region, the transit role of Georgia and the importance of the Middle Corridor - a logistics route connecting Central Asia and China to Europe via the South Caucasus - for European security.

The parties also reviewed strategic and energy projects planned in Georgia, possibilities of strengthening US-Georgia trade relations, including a prospective free trade agreement, as well as Russia's ongoing aggression against Ukraine and its impact on the security of the Black Sea countries.

The officials also discussed the “difficult situation” in Georgia’s Russian-occupied regions and emphasised the importance of the US involvement in the implementation of the policy of their non-recognition.