“Georgia cannot win this standoff alone” Senator Biden and Senator Lugar

It is time for Europe to get off the fence. The European states must engage Moscow and make clear that its actions in Georgia are unacceptable and inconsistent with the assumption that several European governments made in blocking MAP for Georgia.

A peaceful solution to the crisis is possible if we act now. Washington must lead an intensive international diplomatic counteroffensive against Russia's efforts to destabilize Georgia and the region. The process should start by internationalizing the negotiations and peacekeeping missions in Abkhazia and South Ossetia, which until now have been dominated by Moscow.

The trans-Atlantic community must understand that Russia's actions are not directed solely at Georgia. They are also aimed squarely at NATO itself, whose peaceful expansion Russia has long opposed. Russia hopes to instigate confrontational responses and prolong the territorial crisis to further complicate Georgia's NATO aspirations.

America and its allies must not fall into this trap. Georgia has done its part by refusing to overreact and continues to seek a diplomatic solution. The time has come for the trans-Atlantic community to show unity and commitment. The administration should seek and our NATO allies should provide commitments to offer MAPs to Georgia and Ukraine at the next NATO meeting in December. (more)

Press Release

Germany, France, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the
United States of America, as members of the Group of Friends of the Secretary
General for Georgia, reaffirm their commitment to the sovereignty, independence and
territorial integrity of Georgia. This fundamental principle has been strongly
reaffirmed by the Security Council, whose members unanimously adopted Resolution
1808 only a week ago. (more)

Secretary Rice: “Georgia’s Future Is a Transatlantic Future”

Remarks With Georgian Foreign Minister Davit Bakradze Before Their Meeting, Washington, DC, April 23, 2008 The United States is firmly committed to the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Georgia, we support Georgia’s efforts to make certain that the people of Abkhazia and South Ossetia feel fully a part of Georgia, and we are very concerned at the recent move by the Russian Federation, the presidential decree that was issued. I’ve had an opportunity to raise these issues with Foreign Minister Lavrov by phone.  (more)

Statement by U.S. Department of State Spokesman Sean McCormack

We are deeply concerned by the April 16 Russian Presidential Instructions authorizing increased contacts between the Russian government and the separatist regimes in Abkhazia and South Ossetia, without the approval of the Georgian government.  This step challenges Georgia’s territorial integrity and would not be in keeping with Russia’s status as a “facilitator” of the peace process.  (more)

Senator Obama - “President Putin’s decree … is deeply troubling and contrary to Russia’s obligations”

Statement on Georgian territorial integrity and sovereignty and Russian President Putin's decree establishing legal ties between Russia and the Georgian regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. (more)

The Russian leadership should immediately rescind these steps

The Russian government has taken advantage of the lack of unity coming out of the Bucharest Summit to further ratchet up the pressure on young democracies on its borders. Moscow’s actions this week to strengthen ties with the separatist regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia undermine the territorial integrity of the state of Georgia and are clearly designed to destabilize the government of President Mikheil Saakashvili.  (more)

John McCain –“This is a violation of International Law and deserves condemnation by all countries committed to the rule of law”

"I spoke today by phone with Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili about Russia's moves to undermine Georgian sovereignty over two secessionist regions. Moscow has announced that it will establish governmental links directly with Abkhazia and South Ossetia without the approval of the legitimate Georgian government. Such a move is in violation of international law and deserves strong condemnation by all countries committed to the rule of law. No country -- not even Russia -- has recognized the claims of Abkhaz and South Ossetian leaders to independence.  (more)

OSCE Chairman expresses concern about recent developments in the Georgian conflict areas

HELSINKI, 17 April 2008 - The OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Finnish Foreign Minister Alexander Stubb, expressed concern today over the decision of the Russian Federation to establish official ties with the de facto authorities of Georgia's breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

Minister Stubb reiterated his full support for the existing negotiation mechanisms and regretted that they have not been fully utilized. "I encourage the parties to the Georgian-Ossetian conflict to return to the negotiation table in the format agreed by all parties," he said. (more)

"We Urge Russia not to follow this path" - US ambassador to the UN Khalilzad

We are deeply concerned by reports from Moscow that Russia is planning on establishing semi-official representative missions in Abkhazia and South Ossetia without the approval of Georgian government.

We urge Russia not to follow this path which would undercut Russia’s stated support for the principles of Georgian sovereignty and territorial integrity as contained in today’s resolution and run counter to Russia status as a facilitator of the peace process. Instead, we hope Russia will build on its recently improved relations with Georgia to advance the peace process. (more)

NATO Membership for Georgia Is Now a Matter of When, not Whether

”Most of the countries around the table would have been willing to extend MAP to Ukraine and Georgia today, but there were countries that had concerns. And we did, indeed, agree that we would take up this decision again, this question again in December with the foreign ministers having the authority to make decisions about MAP for Ukraine and Georgia.  (more)

Transcript of U/S Daniel Fried’s interview with Rustavi 2

“We’re going to be following [Georgia’s] parliamentary elections very, very closely. They need to be good. They need to be clean. Georgia has much stronger economy than it did four or five years ago. Now it needs to have strong political institutions, free institutions. That includes strong free press, strong responsible opposition and this needs to be all based on basic freedoms like freedom of assembly, and free elections, but the opposition has to help work with the government as well. There are certain rules of the game. They need to be understood. They need to be respected” – Under Secretary Daniel Fried told Rustavi 2 from Brussels on March 20, 2008.  (more)

President Bush Meets with President Saakashvili in the White House

“We talked about Georgia's contribution to democracy movements -- not only her own, but to democracy and freedom movements in places like Iraq. The citizens of Georgia must know that the troops that have been provided there are brave, courageous professionals, and have made a significant difference.(more)

Zalmay Khalilzad, U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations, comments on Georgia at the Security Council stakeout

“We don’t see a connection from our point of view between Kosovo and Georgia/Abkhazia.  Kosovo was a unique situation...The situation in Abkhazia is very different from that…We support Georgia.  There should be no ambiguity about that.  And we see Georgia’s future in terms of its integration and Western institution in the Atlantic community of states.  But that does not mean that we do not recognize legitimate Russian interest.  Russia is a significant power in that region of the world and has interests there and we recognize that.  But we also recognize that Georgia’s territorial integrity needs to be respected and that the United States and many other countries stand behind that.” (more)

Acting Under Secretary Fried Talks about Russian Government Lifting Sanctions on Abkhazia

“I regret this decision, i.e. decision by the Russian Government to lift sanctions on Abkhazia, and we don’t understand how it contributes to stability in the south Caucasus. We don’t see how it contributes to a resolution of the Abkhazian conflict or to better Georgian-Russian relations.  The Abkhazian conflict is a complicated one and it can only be resolved through peaceful means and through dialogue” -  Acting Under Secretary Fried told Rustavi 2 in a March 8 telephone interview. (more)

Kosovo is a unique case

Today the United States recognized the independence of Kosovo.  The United States has long held that each separatist conflict anywhere in the world is unique.  Indeed, the situation in Kosovo is a special case and does not serve as a precedent for other regions, including the Abkhazia and South Ossetia regions of Georgia. (more)

Latest Headlines From the Embassy

Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Fata at GFSIS – “Georgia’s friends are very engaged diplomatically on the issue of Abkhazia”

April 17, in a discussion at GFSIS Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for European and NATO policy Daniel P. Fata briefed the audience of analysts, academics, and government officials on the results of the NATO Summit in Bucharest and President Bush’s Sochi summit with President Putin.(more)

DVC - Endowments for Cultural Institutions

In the second of an ad hoc series of DVCs on endowments on March 27, 2008, participants from a wide range of Georgian cultural institutions learned how to attract donors and raise money for cultural programming, despite the challenges of funding cultural events within Georgia, where NGO’s are not tax exempt and where a culture of philanthropy close to non-existent.  (more)

Georgia’s Public Broadcasting Company Discusses State Department’s Human Rights Report

On March 12, Joye Davis-Kirchner, Political Officer, talked to journalists from Georgian Public TV’s Channel One  and Public Radio about 2007 Human Rights Report’s section on Georgia. (more)

US Embassy Recognizes Its Nominee for the International Women of Courage Aword

On March 13, Ambassador John F. Tefft recognized Marina Tabukashvili, Chairman of the Georgian NGO TASO, as U.S. Embassy Tbilisi’s nominee for Secretary Rice’s Women of Courage Award.  (more)

PAS Hosts DVC on Endowments

On March 6, 2008, the Public Affairs Section organized the first in a series of Digital Video Conferences on “Endowments as an Approach to Financial Sustainability, Fund Raising and Philanthropy.” (more)

Ambassador Tefft Opens English Language Center at the Police Academy of Georgia

On March 6, 2008, Ambassador Tefft and Ambassador Terhi Hakala, Head of the OSCE Mission to Georgia, officially opened the English Language Center at the Police Academy of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia. (more)

Rustavi 2 TV show business courier featuring U.S. government educational-exchange programs

On March 3, Rustavi 2 TV show “Business Courier” hosted U.S. Embassy Cultural Affairs Assistant, Magda Magradze, to speak about U.S. Government educational-exchange programs and study opportunities in the U.S.  (more)

Celebrating Black History month

As part of the Embassy's annual celebration of Black History Month in February, the Public Affairs Section sponsored a film series featuring famous African American movie directors or actors, including "Remember the Titans," "Crash," and "Ray" were shown at the PAO's residence and at a number of American Corners in Tbilisi and in the regions.  (more)

Ambassador Tefft Supports Georgian Wine exports to the U. S.

On February 29, 2008 Ambassador Tefft participated in a wine tour to observe preparation for the first large-scale export of Georgian wines to the U.S.  With the support of the U.S. government, the Vinoterra and Tsinandali Old Cellar   wineries of the Kakheti region have a contract to export wine to the U.S. to be sold at Whole Foods Markets, the world’s largest retailer of natural and organic foods.  (more)

Ambassador at GFSIS

On February 29, 2008 U.S. Ambassador John Tefft visited Georgian Foundation for Strategic and International Studies (GFSIS) to attend the graduation ceremony for the students of the International Relations and National Security Program 2007. (more)

Ambassadorial Send-Off

January 17, 2008 U.S. Ambassador to Georgia John Tefft traveled to Alexeevka Airport to bid farewell to leaders and soldiers of the Georgian 1st Infantry Brigade. (more)

DCM TALKS “NATO” TO SCHOOL KIDS OUTSIDE THE CAPITAL

Chief of Mission Mark Perry spoke about the benefits of NATO membership to a large audience of school children at Public School No. 1 in Sighnaghi, 50 kilometers east of Tbilisi, on November 30. (more)

Political Officer of Embassy Tbilisi Emphasized Importance of Free and Fair Elections in a Democracy

Economic Officer Robert Kiene’s message on the importance of free and fair elections in Georgia came across well in Zugdidi during a speaking engagement at the American Corner and in media interviews. (more)

Embassy Tbilisi Emphasized Importance of Free and Fair Elections in a Democracy

PAS Tbilisi arranged for Political Officer Kerri Hannan of the U.S. Embassy in Tbilisi to speak to audiences of over 40 and 60 respectively at the Batumi American Corner and Batumi University on December 11-12, 2007.(more)