It's very difficult to continue a strong partnership, if the government considers us an adversary. And some of the statements by some members of the government have characterized us and the EU as adversaries, - US Ambassador to Georgia Robin Dunnigan said in an interview given to InterPressNews.
According to her, the United States of America has been very clear that the Secretary of State is reviewing the entire relationship and Secretary Blinken has been very clear that, unfortunately, all of the assistance to Georgia is at risk.
“Let me reiterate. I hope we don't get here over to this point. And over recent days, senior members of the government, including the Prime Minister have said that they hope that we can put our relationship back on track. But we've also been very clear that the Secretary is reviewing the entire relationship, from specific cooperation to assistance, across all agencies. So, what does that really mean? When we talk about our assistance, I don't know if you saw there a very interesting statistic and infographic it, but it shows at the top 10 recipients of European Union assistance goes to government ministries or agencies. Similarly, the majority of US assistance goes to either support directly government ministries for the policies of the government.
Our assistance helps people with disabilities. We support families of children with Down syndrome. We support hospital workers, we give assistance to schools in minority areas. We have helped build, train and equip the Georgian defense forces. We have helped build, train and equip the Georgian coast guard. We've helped build irrigation systems and agriculture. It's just a vast network of partnerships we've built across this country, and Secretary Blinken has been very clear that, unfortunately, all of that assistance is at risk. We don't want to do this. But we have made clear that it's very difficult to continue a strong partnership in all these areas, if the government considers us an adversary. And some of the statements by some members of the government have characterized us and the EU as adversaries”, said the Ambassador.
