The British Ambassador to Georgia, Gareth Ward, spoke about his country’s concerns over the “democratic backsliding and anti-Western rhetoric” of the Georgian ruling party and said that the UK’s decided to freeze the bilateral ministerial talks, the Wardrop Dialogue – for the first time since its inception 10 years ago, as well as not to hold Defense Staff talks and suspend a new cybersecurity program. Ambassador Ward shared his views in an interview with Interpresnews published on October 15.
Ambassador Ward noted that prior to his appointment in July, he was optimistic about Georgia because of the country’s “Euro-Atlantic course and strong economic outlook.” He noted: “I expected that we would work together to increase Georgia’s resilience and our mutual prosperity.”
However, he stressed that after his arrival he had to change his views because of the Georgian Government’s decision to pursue a different course. “…so in my first months in Tbilisi I have focused on making clear our concerns about democratic backsliding and anti-Western rhetoric. I hope for a change in approach from the Georgian Government that will allow me to return to my optimistic vision.”
In discussing UK-Georgian relations, the Ambassador noted that they have been damaged, as have Georgia’s relations with other Western partners. He noted that official London was “very concerned” about Georgian Dream’s decision to pass the Foreign Agents Law despite mass opposition, “shocked” by GD’s manifesto advocating a ban on opposition parties, and “disappointed” by the promotion of conspiracy theories suggesting that Western partners were “undermining Georgia.”
“For those reasons, for the first time in 10 years since we started our bilateral Wardrop Dialogue, we on the UK side decided to freeze these ministerial talks. We have not held our planned Defence Staff talks, and we have paused new cyber security programming. After the elections, whoever is in Government, we hope to see clear evidence of a return to the Euro-Atlantic track in order to rebuild trust and return to a close partnership,” stressed Ambassador Ward.
The Ambassador further discussed Georgia’s ambitions to join NATO, emphasizing that the UK has always been supportive of Georgia’s NATO aspirations. “But NATO is a political as well as military alliance. So the Georgian Government also needs to show commitment to an independent judiciary, free media, human rights and parliamentary oversight. That is why the NATO Secretary General expressed his concerns about the Foreign Influence Law earlier this year. A trajectory towards NATO is not compatible with measures which undermine democracy and human rights.”
Focusing on the upcoming elections, Ambassador Ward noted: “The Georgian people should have the right to choose their Government in free, fair and competitive elections. We are providing 50 observers to ensure that the OSCE / ODHIR election monitoring mission is well resourced, as well as supporting several local election monitoring NGOs. They will play an important role at the upcoming elections and should give the Georgian people confidence that they can have their voice heard at the ballot box.”
Finally, Gareth Ward also discussed recent GD legislative initiatives, reiterating his concern over the Agents’ law which “damages NGOs and free media in Georgia” and “stifles free speech, as well as stigmatizing those who are doing good for their communities.” As for the Anti-LGBTQ+ propaganda law, he noted that it “discriminates against minority groups, and restricts freedom of expression. In my experience, Georgia is a tolerant society with an active NGO community and these laws go against those trends, as well as our common European values, for instance as set out in the Council of Europe.”
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