Georgian Vice Prime Minister accuses Biden administration of “verbal terrorism” and interference in domestic affairs

Mamuka Mdinaradze, Georgia’s Vice Prime Minister and State Minister for the Coordination of Law Enforcement Agencies, on Friday said that an official representative of any country should not even make remarks that clearly indicate interference in another country’s internal affairs, further accusing the previous US administration of carrying out what he described as “political terror” in Georgia.

Speaking about the actions of former US officials, Mdinaradze claimed they had interfered in Georgia’s domestic affairs in a manner he characterised as “aggressive” and comparable to “verbal terrorism”.

Mdinaradze criticised former US Ambassador to Georgia Kelly Degnan for describing the adoption of a transparency law as a “dark day for democracy”, questioning her authority to make such a statement.

“Who gave Kelly Degnan, or any ambassador, the right to call the assessment of a law a ‘dark day for democracy?” Mdinaradze said.

He argued that Georgia had been pressured to take actions that could have led to war and claimed that the country would have faced severe consequences instead of receiving meaningful support.

“The previous administration’s leaders and representatives interfered in Georgia’s internal affairs in a harsh manner, equal to verbal terrorism. They acted on instructions from the previous administration, and this was political terror against Georgia”, Mdinaradze concluded.