Georgian Parliament official says meetings with US congressmen show shift toward pragmatic US-Georgia cooperation

Meetings with US congressmen were extremely important and demonstrated a significant shift in rhetoric compared to the previous US administration, said on Thursday Mariam Lashkhi, the chair of the Georgian Parliament's education, science, and youth affairs Committee.

In her remarks over the visit to the United States, Lashkhi noted that the discussions were pragmatic and focused on restoring and qualitatively improving the strategic partnership between Georgia and the United States.

“We see that the rhetoric we received during the previous administration has completely changed. Our meetings are very pragmatic. This concerns not only the restoration of strategic cooperation between Georgia and the United States, but also its qualitative improvement. It is about starting from a completely new page, focused on concrete results”, Lashkhi said.

She noted that various meetings held in the United States indicate that the current administration has a markedly different attitude toward Georgia compared to the previous one.

“Today the administration is very pragmatic. This is reflected in discussions about the economic direction of our country, the region, and economic cooperation. We talked about the role of the Middle Corridor and Georgia’s role in this process. It is important to continue meaningful communication with congressmen, which primarily involves not only the exchange of information but cooperation based on shared values”, she continued.

She further claimed that the previous administration’s investments were directed only toward promoting pseudo-liberal values, and their resources were spent on attempts to change the government in “our country through violent means”.

“Today we see that the attitudes within this administration have completely changed. Their investments are now directed toward the economy, trade, and real, tangible results that will qualitatively renew relations between the two countries”, the official concluded.