Gareth Ward, the Ambassador of the United Kingdom to Georgia, on Thursday said he was “shocked by the violence” used by “police and informal groups against protesters, journalists, and opposition representatives” at ongoing protests in the country against the Government's decision to suspend EU accession talks until 2028.
Ward’s comments came after David Lammy, the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs of the United Kingdom, on Monday announced a reduction of the UK’s “support and engagement” with the Georgian Government amid the ongoing protests.
In his remarks over the matter, Ward noted a “prompt and independent” investigation into the use of excessive force by the police must be conducted.
"Over the past two weeks, we have seen the Georgian people express their opposition across the country to the decisions taken by the Georgian Dream [party], including its deviation from the Euro-Atlantic path. We are shocked by the violence used by the police and informal groups against protesters, journalists, and opposition representatives”, the Ambassador said.
"As our Foreign Secretary has said, this violence is unacceptable and must stop. Accordingly, the Foreign Secretary also restricted bilateral cooperation between the UK and Georgia. This means that we are suspending programmatic support to the Georgian Government, such as funding for the public administration reform and the reconciliation and the civil cooperation state peace fund, as well as restricting military cooperation, such as no longer assisting in the building of the Georgian Ministry of Defence’s cyber security centre”, Ward continued.
“We will also restrict political meetings and engagement. We cannot resume the Wardrop Strategic Dialogue in this situation”, the diplomat added.
He further stressed “accountability” was “essential”, as over 400 people had been detained, and according to the Public Defender, “most show signs of beatings”.
Ward called on the leadership of the ruling party to “listen to those Western partners who have supported the defence of Georgia's sovereignty against Russian pressure for more than 20 years” in their criticism of the current developments.
