Georgian Parliament Speaker denounces certain US Congress members for “hostile Act” against Georgian people

Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili on Saturday strongly criticised certain United States congressmen for what he described as a “hostile act” against Georgia, arguing that such actions disregard Georgia’s sacrifices in the Afghanistan war, where Georgian troops played a crucial role alongside American forces.

In his remarks, Papuashvili highlighted that Georgia was the fourth-largest contributor to the NATO mission in Afghanistan, after Germany and Italy.

“In Afghanistan, Georgia was the fourth-largest contributor in terms of military personnel, if I’m not mistaken, after Germany and Italy. Some countries that talk a lot about war today, including the Baltic states, had only 40-50 troops deployed there. Many of whom were not even combat personnel but rather staff officers. Meanwhile, we had between 1,000 and 1,500 soldiers on the ground. We made our contribution to this international peacekeeping mission at a time when many others have turned their backs on the United States-led operation”, the Speaker said.

Papuashvili further noted that American troops themselves preferred to fight alongside Georgians, acknowledging their role on the front lines.

“Even they themselves acknowledge that Georgian troops were the ones American soldiers wanted to fight alongside on the front lines. If there was anyone they wanted to be with in combat, it was the Georgians. And indeed, we were on the front lines, while 90 percent of NATO countries were engaged in staff and security operations or, in some cases, were not involved in the Afghanistan mission at all”, Papuashvili noted.

“Therefore, by its very nature, this Act [MEGOBARI Act - a bipartisan bill that envisages sanctions against the Georgian Dream Government officials] is hostile towards the Georgian people, and at the same time, it demonstrates the great ingratitude of certain congressmen toward the Georgian people”, Papuashvili concluded.