Georgian Parliament official predicts fresh start in US-Georgia relations

Davit Matikashvili, an MP from the ruling Georgian Dream party and chair of the Georgian Parliament’s committee on procedural issues and rules, on Monday said there was a high probability that the relationship between Georgia and the United States would be rebooted and restarted on mutually beneficial grounds.

In his interview with Imedi TV, Matikashvili recalled the meetings between the Georgian and the American officials as well as the invitation of the Georgian delegation to the Sovereign Nations Alliance Summit by Republican congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna.

“You know that Ms. Luna is a Republican congresswoman and she is considered a member of Donald Trump's team, sharing his views. Naturally, we cannot talk only about this forum. It was preceded by separate meetings, there was a meeting before the opening of the Milan [Winter] Olympic [games] between the president of Georgia and the US vice president, as well as the secretary of state. There was a visit by the deputy minister of foreign affairs to the US. The visit of individual high-ranking officials to the US as well. In short, based on the information that the president shared with us, the current administration of the United States has a certain view and opinion regarding the resetting of Georgian-American relations”, Matikashvili said.

“First of all, the fact that there are so many events happening around us, so many issues, and among them, we can say that Georgia is at the epicenter of events, so far the new administration of the United States has practically not expressed its opinion, has not touched on the issue of Georgia. We can say unequivocally that this means that we are waiting with patience for some further steps to be taken in relation to Georgia. This gives hope, a high probability that the relations between the two countries will be rebooted and restarted on mutually beneficial grounds”, he concluded.