Embassy Events
DAS Matthew Bryza Press Conference
August 12, 2008
Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, Matthew Bryza, who arrived in Georgia last night by commercial airliner, held a press-conference at the Embassy on August 12, 2008. Bryza talked about developments in the Georgian-Russian conflict and stressed the importance of both sides keeping to the cease-fire. He described the incursion by one of the world’s strongest powers to destroy the democratically-elected government of a smaller neighbor as “brutal behavior which has no place in the twenty- first century.” He condemned the shelling of Georgian towns, causing a humanitarian catastrophe and civilian deaths, including the death of a Dutch journalist killed today in Gori. Bryza urged Russia to withdraw its forces out of Georgia and recognize the territorial integrity of a sovereign country. Both Georgian and international journalists attended the press-conference.