Michael Carpenter on the elections in Georgia
According to Michael Carpenter, the Director for European Affairs at the U.S. National Security Council, if the “Georgian Dream” continues to undermine civil society and if the elections are not free and fair, the United States will continue to take measures against those who undermine democratic norms.
A senior White House official noted that the “Georgian Dream” government has turned Georgia away from European integration by 180 degrees.
Carpenter made this statement at the Warsaw Security Forum in response to a question from Khatia Dekanoidze, one of the leaders of the “United National Movement” [Mikheil Saakashvili’s party], regarding Bidzina Ivanishvili’s governance and the upcoming parliamentary elections.
What did Carpenter say?
“What the ‘Georgian Dream’ government is currently doing is a 180-degree turn away from Euro-Atlantic integration. If the authorities continue on this path—undermining civil society, violating fundamental freedoms, applying the law on foreign agents, and if the elections are not free and fair—the country will not enter the European Union and NATO in the near future. We will continue to take measures through our visa policy and the Global Magnitsky sanctions, which are imposed on those who violate democratic norms.
There cannot be such a huge gap between the Georgian people’s aspirations for a Euro-Atlantic future and what the government is doing now. I want to be clearly understood: what we are seeing on the ground is unacceptable.”
