Helsinki Commission’s Paul Massaro says USAID, NED spread pseudo-liberal ideology abroad, including in Georgia

Paul Massaro, the Senior Policy Advisor at the Helsinki Commission, claimed that the USAID and the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) spread pseudo-liberal ideology abroad, including in Georgia.

His comments came during a phone call with Russian pranksters posing as Kostyantyn Yeliseyev, the former Deputy Head of the Administration of the President of Ukraine between 2015 and 2019.

During the call, the pranksters inquired about Massaro’s opinion on the potential closure of the USAID and the National Endowment for Democracy in the United States.

Massaro noted that these agencies had very productive projects in Ukraine and Georgia.

“It's unfortunate. Many people imagine that these guys were spreading their own ideologies abroad, which did not correspond to the interests of the United States. We are talking about left-wing and pseudo-liberal ideology. Some of the accusations were exaggerated, and some were true”, Massaro said.

“In fact, these agencies have long needed reform. I think that in your region, especially in Ukraine and Georgia, these were very, very productive projects. It's unfortunate that they were thrown away. That’s really bad”, he concluded.