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- There is a smell of spirit here: there is a thaw in relations between Georgia and the United States
There is a smell of spirit here: there is a thaw in relations between Georgia and the United States
Georgia is trying to restore relations with the West after last year's crisis. Certain successes are noticeable in cooperation with the United States. The Americans sent their military to NATO exercises in the republic, received a new ambassador, and slowed down the adoption of the controversial Megobari act. Details can be found in the Izvestia article.
Exercises with a column
At the end of July, NATO military exercises Agile Spirit 2025 ("Agile Spirit") started in Georgia. The main part of the maneuvers will take place in the vicinity of Tbilisi. The participants plan to conduct field shooting and practice the actions of special forces, the central episode of the whole event will be training to escort a military convoy from Senaki base to Vaziani base.
American military personnel played a major role in the preparation and conduct of the exercises. Since the beginning of July, the US Army Command in Europe and Africa has been transferring military equipment to Georgia, including armored vehicles and helicopters. It is the American soldiers who form the basis of the incoming contingent: in total, about 2 thousand soldiers participate in Agile Spirit, 800 of them from overseas.
Last year, amid a deep crisis in relations between Georgia and the United States, Washington canceled Noble Partner's joint maneuvers. The current training sessions are considered evidence of a certain warming between the countries. Recently, however, there have been other signs of improving relations. At the end of July, the new ambassador to the United States, Tamar Taliashvili, presented her credentials to President Trump and began work.
In addition, American lawmakers have indefinitely postponed the adoption of the controversial Megobari Act bill, which involves the imposition of sanctions against the Georgian leadership. In the spring, it was approved by the House of Representatives and the Senate Committee on International Affairs, but now it has become clear that several Republican senators are hindering further consideration of the document.
The Georgian leadership does not hide its satisfaction with what is happening. "We have talked before about the values and challenges that the current administration [of President Trump] is talking about. It was precisely these challenges that we were fighting, not the United States or the EU, when they showed double standards. We are ready for a reset and we are waiting for reciprocal steps," President Mikheil Kavelashvili said. At the same time, he added that he was ready to personally meet with Donald Trump to resolve the accumulated issues.
Visa-free discord
The crisis in relations between Georgia and the West occurred last year. First, the Transcaucasian republic passed a law on foreign agents and banned LGBT propaganda (an extremist movement banned in Russia). Then parliamentary elections were held in the country, the result of which caused violent protests by the opposition. All this led to a break in relations with the leadership of the European Union and the administration of Joe Biden.
At the same time, Tbilisi did not hide its hopes for a change of power in the United States. Representatives of the ruling party stated that Donald Trump is ideologically close to the Georgian Dream, shares conservative values, and is more inclined to develop business contacts rather than promote ideological attitudes. "We have a coincidence, and much will depend on whether the new administration can defeat the deep state," Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze said.
The inauguration ceremony of US President Donald Trump
However, after the change of power in the United States, no progress was observed for a long time, and for several months there were no contacts at all. It got to the point that in May, Prime Minister Kobakhidze wrote an open letter to Washington. "I have publicly expressed Georgia's readiness for a strategic partnership from scratch with a specific roadmap, but so far we have not received any response," he said indignantly.
Then the first evidence of warming appeared. At the end of May, Donald Trump congratulated his colleague Mikhail Kavelashvili on the Independence Day of the republic, although many in the West do not recognize the legitimacy of the Georgian leader. In addition, Deputy Prime Minister Levan Davitashvili paid an official visit to the United States, where he held meetings at the State Department, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Economy.
There are still quite a lot of difficulties. In early July, U.S. Ambassador to Georgia Robin Dunnigan gave an interview in which she said that the founder of the ruling party, Bidzina Ivanishvili, is the informal ruler of the country and puts personal interests above the interests of the state. In addition, she said that the leadership of the ruling party had sent an "insulting and threatening" message to Donald Trump.
In response, Tbilisi noted that the diplomat had been appointed during the previous administration and called Dunnigan an agent of the "deep state." Interestingly, against this background, Georgia's relations with the European Union remain in deep crisis. Brussels is extremely outraged that the country's most prominent opposition leaders have recently been put on trial.
In early July, the European Parliament adopted a resolution calling for a review of Georgia's visa-free status due to "non-compliance with standards of democratic governance and freedoms due to the actions of the ruling party." Later, the EU leadership sent a letter to the Georgian Foreign Ministry with a list of demands. Among them are the release of oppositionists, the repeal of the law on foreign agents, the legalization of LGBT propaganda, and much more. It is noted that if these wishes are not fulfilled, the visa-free regime will be canceled in the fall.
What the experts say
Shota Aphaidze, a political scientist and expert at the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation, believes that it is too early to talk about a thaw in relations between Georgia and the United States.
— The presentation of credentials by the ambassador is a standard procedure, I would not overestimate it. The difficulties with passing the Megobari Act should not be exaggerated either: there are different groups with their own interests in the Senate. Finally, I don't see anything special about conducting exercises either — Georgia has never rejected Euro-Atlantic integration. In general, everything is ready to unfreeze relations and restart the strategic partnership, the system has not gone anywhere, but it remains to wait for the goodwill of the Trump administration," he explains.
Archil Sikharulidze, founder of the SIKHA Foundation Research Institute, says that relations between Georgia and the United States have really improved.
US President Donald Trump
— Rapprochement was inevitable — the Georgian Dream is very close in rhetoric to Donald Trump. The question here is rather why the thaw started so late. The point, apparently, is that Georgia's previous curators left a very difficult legacy, and for Trump himself the Transcaucasian region is not as important as Russia, China or the Middle East. It took him a long time to figure out and think over his own vision," he emphasizes.
The source adds that the Georgian authorities did not want to quarrel with either Washington or Brussels, and now they will be very happy to make a deal if its terms are favorable.
— Rapprochement with the United States is very important for the Georgian Dream. This will be a good argument in a dispute with the Europeans — they will see that they are left alone, they may become less enthusiastic to continue the fight. In addition, the ruling party will gain an argument in the fight against the opposition within the country. The idea of breaking the blockade in the western direction will definitely be conveyed to the voters," he explains.
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