“That’s why Democrats lost majority in Congress” – ruling party MP responds to criticism of Senator Shaheen

Irakli Zarkua, the ruling Georgian Dream party MP, on Thursday slammed the US Senator Jeanne Shaheen for her “unfounded” claims over Georgia’s “backsliding” and said “that is why Democrats have lost majority in the Senate” in recent elections. 

“Advice based on right assessments are important to us [to the current authorities]. If the Senator voices such [unfounded claims] then what is different between her and Kubilius [MEP Andrius Kubilius]”, Zarkua said. 

The Senator has called for the “review” in US-Georgia cooperation considering a “huge setback” in the country under the Georgian Dream authorities. 

“It is good that Georgia is trying to play a positive role in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, but unfortunately, we see a very serious setback in Georgia itself. We are providing this country with significant assistance in order to implement reforms there, and I believe that we should link this assistance to how the Georgian government is behaving. Although the representatives of the State Department told me that this is not a good idea, I still think that we should reconsider our strategy in relation to Georgia”, said Shaheen.