US Suspends Strategic Partnership with Georgia

State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said that "the anti-democratic actions of the Georgian Dream Party have violated the strategic partnership between the United States and Georgia,"  Orda.kz reports 

Miller stressed that the Georgian people overwhelmingly support integration with Europe.

The United States condemns the excessive use of force by police against Georgians seeking to exercise their rights to assembly and expression, including their freedom to peacefully protest, he said.

He called on all parties to ensure peaceful protests.

Georgian Dream’s various anti-democratic actions have violated the core tenets of our U.S.-Georgia Strategic Partnership, which was based on shared values and commitments to democracy, rule of law, civil society, respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, and anti-corruption efforts.  As a result, the United States has suspended this mechanism, said Matthew Miller.

Miller urged the Georgian government to “return to the Euro-Atlantic path, transparently investigate all violations in the parliamentary elections, and repeal anti-democratic laws that restrict freedom of assembly and expression.”

Original Author: Rimma Karatayeva