There are a lot of things that worry us about the course of Georgia - we will continue to look for ways to make the relevant persons answer for what happened - the senior director of the European direction of the National Security Council of the United States of America, Michael Carpenter, said in an interview with the Georgian editorial office of "Voice of America".
According to him, future statements from "Georgian Dream" are also a matter of concern.
"Georgia's trajectory worries us a lot. Recent anti-democratic actions, harassment of civil society and reduction of space for freedom of expression and assembly are worrying for us. We have been seeing this trajectory for quite some time now, and the "Foreign Agents Law" is one of its manifestations.
Frankly speaking, future announcements from the ruling party are also a matter of concern. So we took action. We stopped the 95 million USD aid that we usually provide to the government of Georgia; We implemented a policy of restriction against "Georgian Dream" officials, law enforcement officers, private citizens, members of parliament, who are complicit in actions that violate democratic norms in Georgia. We will continue to look for ways to hold the appropriate people accountable for what happened.
To say that these [events] are disturbing is not enough. There are many things that worry us about the course of Georgia," he said.
When asked whether we should expect deterrence measures, Carpenter answers that the American side will continue to take appropriate steps when necessary.
"We do not announce sanctions in advance, but we will try to hold people accountable for corruption, anti-democratic actions, harassment of civil society and abuse of power.
We have the necessary tools to act accordingly, both in the context of Georgia and globally. We will continue to take appropriate steps when necessary," Carpenter said.
