Georgian Parliament Speaker: Georgia proved its strategic partnership with US “not on paper, but in action”

Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili on Monday said that the country viewed every international relationship through the prism of its national interests, noting that the Georgian Government’s two key national goals were territorial reunification and improving citizens’ well-being.

In his interview with Rustavi 2 TV channel, Papuashvili highlighted the importance of strategic partnership with the United States in achieving these objectives.

“When we speak about the US, we mean a country with whom we demonstrated our strategic partnership not merely on paper, but through action. We joined them in war at a time when half of Europe chose to hide. Naturally, we have higher expectations when we have made such a contribution to this partnership, and we expect an adequate response to that contribution”, he noted.

The Speaker further added that Georgia was acting with “strategic patience”, emphasising that many of the issues Georgian officials raised years ago are only now being acknowledged internationally.

“We have never patented any of our ideas. But when others recognise what we identified years earlier, this should show them that a non-nuclear, 3.5-million-strong country like Georgia exposed challenges - be it the deep state, oligarchic or informal governance in Europe - well before many others, and we stood firmly against them”, he continued.

Papuashvili expressed hope that decisions leading to closer relations would eventually be made but stressed that Georgia did not act “with its eyes on anyone”.

“We act based on our national interests. Anyone who respects those interests and responds to our extended hand of friendship will, of course, have the corresponding relationship with us”, he concluded.