Answering lobbyist firm call does not mean lobbying for Saakashvili – US Ambassador

Kelly Degnan, the outgoing US Ambassador to Georgia, on Friday once again rejected the claims by several members of the ruling Georgian Dream party that the mission’s employee had been engaged in lobbying for the release of the currently imprisoned former President Mikheil Saakashvili, and said answering a call from the US-based law firm Akerman did not mean cooperation with the specific company. 

 

“We spoke clearly about this matter. There is nothing ambiguous here. No one from the US Embassy in Tbilisi was involved in lobbying [former President] Saakashvili. The Embassy was mentioned in the document [Akerman’s disclosure with the US Department of Justice earlier this month] because our employee had  answered the call of the lobbying company. Answering the phone call does not mean agreeing to do something. It means only to answer the phone call”, Degnan said. 

 

The diplomat also commented on the protest in Batumi port on Thursday related to the entry of the Russian cruise ship, and said the reaction of demonstrators was “natural”.  “Georgians are very hospitable people, but no one should expect that these people will be happy to meet here people who have occupied their lands and prevent people from returning home. Therefore, I think such a reaction should not be surprising,” said Degnan. 

 

In remarks on Georgia’s cooperation in preventing Russia to evade international sanctions imposed on it for invading Ukraine, Degnan praised Tbilisi as a “good partner” and noted “we are looking forward to continuing close cooperation with the Georgian authorities so that this [evasion of sanctions] does not happen through the territory of Georgia”.