U.S. Embassy Statement on 2021 Georgian Municipal Elections
The United States Embassy congratulates the people of Georgia and the thousands of election workers and professional domestic observers who participated in the October 2 elections. The high voter turnout despite the COVID-19 pandemic is indicative of the continued commitment of the people of Georgia to democracy and Georgia’s Euro-Atlantic path. Municipal elections matter because the local level is where citizens’ needs and interests are met most directly by their elected representatives. Georgia’s citizens have frequently expressed their desire for a greater voice in decisions that affect their lives. The lack of focus on local issues in yesterday’s elections was a missed opportunity to make progress towards achieving that goal.
The United States shares the OSCE ODIHR’s initial assessment that these elections were technically well-administered, but that the environment was marred by widespread and consistent allegations of intimidation, vote-buying, pressure against candidates and voters, pervasive misuse of citizen observers as party representatives, and an uneven playing field, including in the pre-election period. While voters were able to cast their votes in a largely calm environment on October 2, the election process is about more than Election Day. We share ODIHR’s concerns about the polarized media landscape, the significant imbalance of resources and insufficient oversight of campaign finances, the under-representation of women in the campaign, reports of misuse of administrative resources, and pressure against journalists.
We commend the professional domestic election observation organizations – in particular, ISFED, GYLA, PMMG, and TI – for informing the public with sound, balanced assessments and reliable information throughout the campaign period and on Election Day. Their important contributions have, over time, improved the election process. We are concerned by reports that some of these respected domestic NGOs reported barriers to observing the elections.
The continued blurring of the line between state and party resources is deeply disturbing. Significant reports about the misuse of administrative resources during the campaign raised doubts about the overall fairness of the elections. In many towns and villages, pressure against teachers, law enforcement officers, and other public sector workers reportedly interfered with their ability to exercise their free choice on Election Day. This type of abuse has occurred too often in Georgian elections and is wholly incompatible with Georgia’s democratic and Euro-Atlantic ideals. There is a dangerous risk that these and other recurring elections violations are becoming accepted as inevitable. Georgian voters deserve a higher standard of integrity in their election process.
We also regret actions that are likely to further polarize and destabilize Georgia’s already tense political situation, and parties’ emphasis on personal attacks rather than addressing voters’ priorities. These actions call into question some political parties’ commitment to the principle that political legitimacy should be won or lost at the ballot box.
We commend Parliament’s recent efforts to adopt electoral reforms to address some of the deficiencies identified during previous elections. While some measures resulted in positive changes, the overall failure to significantly reduce recurring patterns of violations, especially during the pre-election period, is disappointing. We call on Parliament, including opposition parties, to recommit in good faith to strengthening Georgia’s election system in a comprehensive manner; to implement key reforms – including judicial reforms – recommended by ODIHR, the Venice Commission, and Georgia’s international partners; and to pass constitutional amendments ensuring that all future parliamentary elections will be fully proportional, as they have previously pledged to do. This reform process must be implemented hand-in-hand with citizens and civil society.
Now is the time to build political alliances among parties to urgently address the issues that are most important to Georgia’s citizens. As it has in the past, Georgia must meet the challenges of building its democracy with courage, compromise, and resolve. Each election is a chance to strengthen and improve the democratic process. On October 2, Georgia’s citizens exercised their precious right to vote, to be heard, and to hold their political leaders accountable. We call on all parties to resist efforts to further polarize the political situation, to maintain a calm post-election environment, and to ensure the fair, impartial adjudication of electoral complaints. The second round of voting is an opportunity to improve the process and conduct an orderly, competitive run-off with results Georgians can have full confidence in.
The United States is proud to have stood alongside the people of Georgia over the decades and we will continue to support Georgia’s efforts to build a strong democracy, a prosperous economy, and a stable, secure country.
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AMBASSADOR DEGNAN'S REMARKS TO MEDIA AT SKILLS WEEK
Question about the event
Ambassador Degnan: I’m very pleased to be here today, along with the Minister of Education, my EU colleague, and many other distinguished guests for the launch of Georgia’s Skills Week. The United States has been helping Georgia develop its education sector for years, including in the area of vocational education and training. This is because we want Georgian citizens to be able to acquire the skills they need through vocational education and training in order to get good paying jobs for rewarding lifelong careers. This is our latest program through USAID: industry-led skills bring together the private sector that coordinates with vocational education and training institutions to make sure that students are coming out with the skills that are needed in today’s market. The programs are designed to bring together the government, the private sector, vocational and education training institutions, and civil society to make sure that Georgians have the opportunity for better paying jobs and rewarding careers that are going to help both their families and their communities. So, we are delighted today to launch Skills Week, a weeklong celebration of the achievements that Georgia has made in this area.
Question on designations on individuals associated with the Georgian judiciary and U.S. study tours for judges
Ambassador Degnan: Our study tours have been popular and successful because they bring together judges from the United States with judges in Georgia and give them an opportunity to learn from each other and to share their best practices and lessons learned. Sometimes they talk about how they manage their courtrooms, the heavy workloads, or sometimes particularly interesting issues that come up during cases. Our programs are open to those who are qualified, as well as those who will benefit from these exchanges with American judges and maybe bring ideas back to their courtrooms. They’re also open to those who can go because this is a big time commitment. Sometimes, given the workloads of judges here, they’re not always able to go for the full two weeks; sometimes it’s even longer than two weeks. So, we are always delighted when Georgian judges choose to participate in our programs, and we usually have a lot of interest in them. We look forward to continuing this great exchange between Georgian and American judges.
On your second question, Parliament created these investigatory commissions as a mechanism to look into issues that are important to the people of Georgia, to look into issues of the day that require greater transparency, and more information to allow the citizens of Georgia to be better informed and also to hold people accountable and provide transparency on important issues. So, the reason this mechanism was created by Parliament was to provide citizens with more information. I think it’s a very useful technique that’s been a mechanism that’s used in many different Parliaments, including the US Congress. We would hope that Parliament and Members of Parliament would make full use of these tools that they have created in the interest of their citizens.
Question on Helsinki Commission’s call for Nika Gvaramia’s release
Ambassador Degnan: The Helsinki Commission is a very well-respected organization that has a mandate from the United States Congress to monitor human rights around the world, including media freedom. They have been clear, as have many others, including our Embassy, on concerns about Mr. Gvaramia’s case, including the original charges, the timing of the charges, and then subsequently the conviction and decision. This is a letter from an organization that has been a friend of Georgia’s for a very long time, a strong supporter of Georgia in its democratic development and its progress toward European integration. Any decision regarding pardoning is solely up to President Zourabichvili, and I’m sure she takes all of the requests—such as those from the Helsinki Commission—into consideration in making her decisions.
Source: https://ge.usembassy.gov/ambassador-degnans-remarks-to-media-at-skills-week/
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U.S. Embassy Statement on designations on four individuals associated with the Georgian judiciary for their involvement in significant corruption
U.S. Embassy Statement on designations on four individuals associated with the Georgian judiciary for their involvement in significant corruption.
Source: Video U.S. Embassy Statement
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The creation of scapegoats and fighting them in order to maintain power is a repeating strategy of dictators, reads the statement released by the US Embassy in Georgia.
According to the statement, dictators are also known for repeating each other's mistakes. Putin tells his people that the entire civilized world is their enemy and that only he stands on the path to truth. Putin’s enemies are pregnant women, whom he bombs inside maternity wards, small children and elderly people who sing to each other in shelters to find comfort, and people who choose freedom.
One year ago Putin was certain that Kyiv would fall in a day, that Ukrainian people would greet his army with flowers, and that the west would turn a blind eye. But Kyiv stands, Ukrainian people are fighting with unprecedented courage, and the West has never been so united.Dictators like Putin repeat each other’s mistakes because they forget the eternal verity which was brilliantly formulated by Rustaveli centuries ago: "Evil is vanquished by good, for the essence of good is enduring", reads the statement. -
At least one person was killed in an attack using an automatic weapon on Azerbaijan's Embassy in Iran’s capital Tehran, officials said early Friday."The attacker destroyed the guard post with a Kalashnikov automatic weapon and killed the head of the security service. Two security guards of the embassy were also injured while preventing the attack. Their condition is satisfactory," said the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry in a statement.The suspect in the attack was detained, according to Azerbaijani state media reports.An investigation is currently underway into the "treacherous attack," said the ministry.The ministry said that additional information will be provided to the public on details of the case.Iran and Azerbaijan share a border, and Iran has a large ethnic Azerbaijani population.
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On 16 December, the Euroclub in Kvareli, Georgia, opened its new space with the support of the European Union and the US Embassy.
The EuroClub, a youth organisation founded in Kvareli in 2019 with the support of the European Union’s Regional Communication Programme ‘EU NEIGHBOURS east’, will now become a regional hub for education and development, not only in Kvareli municipality, but also in the Kakheti region. Since 2021, the EuroClub Kvareli unites the EuroClub and American Shelf in one space.
The main mission of EuroClub Kvareli is to promote education and development, raise civic awareness, provide access to non-formal education and spread Western values. The aim of the organisation is to bring the local community together and provide it with a space for open discussions, workshops, film screenings, and seminars.
Over the past three years, EuroClub Kvareli operations have reached more than 2,500 beneficiaries through 150+ activities as part of 25+ projects. These include the Citizen empowerment programme in Kvareli municipality, Activism film club, Open libraries, Book club, and European values and democracy campaign for European Days (EU4U).
