Day: June 14, 2024
On June 14, the Ambassador of the United States of America, Robin Dunnigan, spoke about disinformation spread in Georgia about EU accession and U.S.-Georgian relations. She was speaking at an event dedicated to the presentation of life stories of people who lived during the USSR regime at Ilia State University. In her speech, she reiterated U.S. support for Georgia’s Euro-Atlantic aspirations and stressed that EU integration doesn’t mean giving up one’s cultural identity.
Ambassador Dunnigan noted, “There are some [in Georgia] who claim that we are a global war party, or that we have tried to foment Revolution in this country, or that we have nefarious intentions here… our history in this country over 32 years is a history of strong people to people ties, of deep friendships between Americans and Georgians, of partnerships in the medical field, in the education field, in sharing agriculture techniques, helping each other strengthen our defense forces.” She said such false narratives were “heartbreaking and disappointing” and reiterated that the US is committed to “to the Georgian people’s aspirations to become a member of the EU, to strengthen the Euro-Atlantic trajectory.”
Amb. Dunnigan said the purported threat posed by the EU to the Georgian identity was also “completely false.” “All you have to do is drive through the EU and cross a border and […] when you go from Austria to Italy, there is no question that you keep your cultural identity,” the Ambassador said.
She put her comments in the context of the event, saying the life stories of people who suffered during the Soviet Union help preserve the truth and help future generations understand the traumas caused by the Soviet regime and the resilience it brought to the Georgian people.
Amb. Dunnigan pointedly stressed that “it serves as a reminder to everyone that the Soviet regime here routinely called Georgians, who tried to tell the truth, agents or foreign agents.” The ruling majority has recently pushed through the legislation that would brand civil society groups and media receiving foreign financing as “acting in the interests of foreign countries.” This “foreign agents law” has been widely decried by the U.S. as well as the EU. A first in what is sought to be a series of sanctions was announced by the U.S. State Department against the individuals involved in the repression of the opponents of this law.
Also Read:
- 06/06/2024 – BREAKING: US State Department Implements First Tranche of Sanctions against Georgian Individuals
- 24/05/2024 – GD Accuses U.S. of “Blackmail”, Downplays Restrictions
- 24/05/2024 – Georgian People’s Act Envisaging Sanctions and Review of US-Georgia Relations Introduced in U.S. Senate
- 15/05/2024 – Senators: Congress to consider a shift in U.S. policy toward Georgia
- 14/05/04 – Assistant Secretary O’Brien Warns of “Consequences” in His Final Briefing
- 14/05/04 – The White House Ready to “Fundamentally Reassess” Relations with Georgia over Agents’ Law
On June 14, Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, Dmitry Medvedev, published an article in which he argues, “We must recognize that neo-colonialism has long since come close to the borders of our country.” He claims that the Western “neocolonialists” ” do not respect the well-known strategic borders of other states” and seek to “gain control” over Russia’s neighbors, including Georgia.
According to Medvedev, these efforts manifested themselves in “fomenting the “color revolutions” in Georgia and Ukraine, when the puppet regimes of M. Saakashvili, a U.S. State Department fellow, and V. Yushchenko, the husband of a former U.S. official, were brought to power in Tbilisi and Kyiv.”
In this context, he defended his actions while serving as Russia’s president in 2008, accusing Georgia of “unleashing aggression” against peoples of the occupied Abkhazia and Tskhinvali regions, “which was met with an immediate and harsh response from Russia.”
In the article, he also accuses “neo-metropoles” of coveting other countries “of the post-Soviet space,” including Armenia. Speaking of Armenia’s EU integration prospects, Medvedev claims that “no one intends to open the doors of the “club of the chosen” for the Armenian people – ask the neo-Banderites [pejoratively referring to Ukrainians] if they managed to get the EU membership. No. And they will not get it in the near future. And will they ever get it at all? Let them look at Georgia, where they recently approved a law that the US and the EU did not like. And what [happened to them]? – sanctions!”
Also Read:
The Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation added the “Georgian National Legion” to the list of “terrorist organizations” on the basis of the decision of the Southern District Military Court, which came into force on May 4.
The Georgian Legion is a prominent group of around 700 to 1000 fighters, mostly Georgian, but also other foreign volunteers who have been fighting in Ukraine since 2014, as the war in Donbas was started by Russia. In February 2016 the Legion was integrated into the Ukrainian armed forces structure.
“Based on the evidence collected by the FSB, the Southern District Military Court recognized the paramilitary formation “Georgian National Legion” as a terrorist organization. In accordance with this decision and the federal law “On Countering Terrorism,” the formation was included in the Unified Federal List of organizations, including foreign and international ones, recognized as terrorist organizations under the legislation of the Russian Federation; its activities are prohibited in Russia,” – the FSB reported to Russian state-owned media outlet Tass.
The Commander of the Georgian Legion, Mamuka Mamulashvili, who was sentenced to prison in absentia by Russia last year and placed on its wanted list, told RFE/RL’s Georgian Service: “This is a sign of our effective work, which will continue, and the Georgian Legion will certainly celebrate its inclusion in Russia’s terrorist list today.” Mamulashvili recently said he was poisoned, supposedly by Russian special services.
Also Read:
- 13/06/2024 – Commander of “Georgian National Legion” Fighting in Ukraine Says Was Poisoned
- 05/10/2023 – “Georgian Legion” Commander Mamulashvili Wanted by Russia
- 29/07/2023 – Over 70 Georgians Prosecuted by Russia in Absentia for Fighting in Ukraine
- 23/11/2022 – Georgian Legion Commander Denies Involvement in Russian PoW Incident
On June 14, the Ambassador of the United States of America, Robin Dunnigan, spoke about disinformation spread in Georgia about EU accession and U.S.-Georgian relations. She was speaking at an event dedicated to the presentation of life stories of people who lived during the USSR regime at Ilia State University. In her speech, she reiterated U.S. support for Georgia’s Euro-Atlantic aspirations and stressed that EU integration doesn’t mean giving up one’s cultural identity.
Ambassador Dunnigan noted, “There are some [in Georgia] who claim that we are a global war party, or that we have tried to foment Revolution in this country, or that we have nefarious intentions here… our history in this country over 32 years is a history of strong people to people ties, of deep friendships between Americans and Georgians, of partnerships in the medical field, in the education field, in sharing agriculture techniques, helping each other strengthen our defense forces.” She said such false narratives were “heartbreaking and disappointing” and reiterated that the US is committed to “to the Georgian people’s aspirations to become a member of the EU, to strengthen the Euro-Atlantic trajectory.”
Amb. Dunnigan said the purported threat posed by the EU to the Georgian identity was also “completely false.” “All you have to do is drive through the EU and cross a border and […] when you go from Austria to Italy, there is no question that you keep your cultural identity,” the Ambassador said.
She put her comments in the context of the event, saying the life stories of people who suffered during the Soviet Union help preserve the truth and help future generations understand the traumas caused by the Soviet regime and the resilience it brought to the Georgian people.
Amb. Dunnigan pointedly stressed that “it serves as a reminder to everyone that the Soviet regime here routinely called Georgians, who tried to tell the truth, agents or foreign agents.” The ruling majority has recently pushed through the legislation that would brand civil society groups and media receiving foreign financing as “acting in the interests of foreign countries.” This “foreign agents law” has been widely decried by the U.S. as well as the EU. A first in what is sought to be a series of sanctions was announced by the U.S. State Department against the individuals involved in the repression of the opponents of this law.
Also Read:
- 06/06/2024 – BREAKING: US State Department Implements First Tranche of Sanctions against Georgian Individuals
- 24/05/2024 – GD Accuses U.S. of “Blackmail”, Downplays Restrictions
- 24/05/2024 – Georgian People’s Act Envisaging Sanctions and Review of US-Georgia Relations Introduced in U.S. Senate
- 15/05/2024 – Senators: Congress to consider a shift in U.S. policy toward Georgia
- 14/05/04 – Assistant Secretary O’Brien Warns of “Consequences” in His Final Briefing
- 14/05/04 – The White House Ready to “Fundamentally Reassess” Relations with Georgia over Agents’ Law
On June 14, Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, Dmitry Medvedev, published an article in which he argues, “We must recognize that neo-colonialism has long since come close to the borders of our country.” He claims that the Western “neocolonialists” ” do not respect the well-known strategic borders of other states” and seek to “gain control” over Russia’s neighbors, including Georgia.
According to Medvedev, these efforts manifested themselves in “fomenting the “color revolutions” in Georgia and Ukraine, when the puppet regimes of M. Saakashvili, a U.S. State Department fellow, and V. Yushchenko, the husband of a former U.S. official, were brought to power in Tbilisi and Kyiv.”
In this context, he defended his actions while serving as Russia’s president in 2008, accusing Georgia of “unleashing aggression” against peoples of the occupied Abkhazia and Tskhinvali regions, “which was met with an immediate and harsh response from Russia.”
In the article, he also accuses “neo-metropoles” of coveting other countries “of the post-Soviet space,” including Armenia. Speaking of Armenia’s EU integration prospects, Medvedev claims that “no one intends to open the doors of the “club of the chosen” for the Armenian people – ask the neo-Banderites [pejoratively referring to Ukrainians] if they managed to get the EU membership. No. And they will not get it in the near future. And will they ever get it at all? Let them look at Georgia, where they recently approved a law that the US and the EU did not like. And what [happened to them]? – sanctions!”
Also Read:
The Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation added the “Georgian National Legion” to the list of “terrorist organizations” on the basis of the decision of the Southern District Military Court, which came into force on May 4.
The Georgian Legion is a prominent group of around 700 to 1000 fighters, mostly Georgian, but also other foreign volunteers who have been fighting in Ukraine since 2014, as the war in Donbas was started by Russia. In February 2016 the Legion was integrated into the Ukrainian armed forces structure.
“Based on the evidence collected by the FSB, the Southern District Military Court recognized the paramilitary formation “Georgian National Legion” as a terrorist organization. In accordance with this decision and the federal law “On Countering Terrorism,” the formation was included in the Unified Federal List of organizations, including foreign and international ones, recognized as terrorist organizations under the legislation of the Russian Federation; its activities are prohibited in Russia,” – the FSB reported to Russian state-owned media outlet Tass.
The Commander of the Georgian Legion, Mamuka Mamulashvili, who was sentenced to prison in absentia by Russia last year and placed on its wanted list, told RFE/RL’s Georgian Service: “This is a sign of our effective work, which will continue, and the Georgian Legion will certainly celebrate its inclusion in Russia’s terrorist list today.” Mamulashvili recently said he was poisoned, supposedly by Russian special services.
Also Read:
- 13/06/2024 – Commander of “Georgian National Legion” Fighting in Ukraine Says Was Poisoned
- 05/10/2023 – “Georgian Legion” Commander Mamulashvili Wanted by Russia
- 29/07/2023 – Over 70 Georgians Prosecuted by Russia in Absentia for Fighting in Ukraine
- 23/11/2022 – Georgian Legion Commander Denies Involvement in Russian PoW Incident
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DefenseNews: The Romanian government has begun a multibillion-euro expansion and modernization project at one of its air bases near Ukraine, where new military equipment will be stored.
Romanian Defence Minister Angel Tîlvăr announced the move June 11 during a ceremony at the Mihail Kogălniceanu Air Base, located less than…