“We have consistently urged the Georgian Government this year to walk back its anti-democratic actions and return to its Euro-Atlantic path. We do not rule out further consequences if the Georgian Government’s direction does not change. Georgia’s actions will determine our responses. We have had our relationship with Georgia under review for some months now. You have seen us already suspend $95 billion in – excuse me, $95 million in assistance to the Government of Georgia. We have other assistance that remains under review,” US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said.
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According to Miller, on Saturday, October 26, the Georgian people went to the polls in an election environment shaped by the policies of the ruling party, which included the abuse of public resources, vote-buying, and voter intimidation.
"This contributed to an uneven playing field and undermined public and international trust in the possibility of a fair outcome. We join calls from international and local observers for a full investigation of all reports of election-related violations, and urge respect for the fundamental freedoms of expression and peaceful assembly.
We encourage Georgia’s governing officials to consider the relationship they want with the Euro-Atlantic community, rather than strengthening policies that are praised by authoritarians. More than 80 percent of the Georgian people want to see the country integrated into the EU and NATO. The constitution of Georgia – proposed and backed by the current governing party – stipulates the pursuit of these membership – of membership in these Euro-Atlantic institutions. All parties campaigned in support of this goal, but the governing party has adopted measures inconsistent with that course.
The Georgian Government can recommit to its democratic Euro-Atlantic trajectory by respecting the rule of law, addressing deficiencies in its electoral process, withdrawing and repealing anti-democratic legislation, and undertaking significant effort on outstanding EU accession reform recommendations," said Miller.
In response to a journalist's question, the State Department representative stated that they are consulting with European partners regarding the investigation of the elections held in Georgia.
"We made it clear that we want to see an investigation. And to be clear, I didn’t specify that – in my statement that it should be Georgian officials that should conduct that investigation. We are consulting with our European partners about what an appropriate body to conduct such an investigation might be," said Matthew Miller.
When asked about Russia's interference in the elections, Miller stated that he currently does not have an assessment on the matter:
"We saw - even outside the claims of Russian interference, we saw the ruling party take steps that would restrict Georgians’ right to participate in a fully free and fair election. We saw vote-buying, we saw crackdowns, and – now, of course, that’s a separate question from Russian interference. I will say that we have seen Russia interfere with a number of its neighbors’ elections over the past several years. We’ve seen them interfere in our own election. We continue to be vigorous in watching, but I don’t have an assessment to offer with respect to this election that was just conducted.”
