Britain has for the first time frozen political dialogue with Georgia and canceled talks between the heads of defense ministries, British Ambassador to Georgia Gareth Ward said in an interview with Interpressnews, explaining this decision by the anti-Western rhetoric of the Georgian authorities, according to London.
The strategic Wardrop Dialogue between London and Tbilisi began in 2014, with annual talks between the heads of various departments of the two countries taking place in this format.
“The Georgian government chose a different course, and in the first months of my stay in Tbilisi I had to make clear our concerns about the decline of democracy and anti-Western rhetoric... We, the British side, decided to freeze the annual Wardrop Dialogue between high-level ministers. This is the first time since the dialog format was established. We have also canceled the scheduled high-level talks between defense heads and suspended the implementation of the new cybersecurity program,” the ambassador said.
The diplomat expressed hope that after the elections the Georgian government will return to a pro-Western course and trust between the sides will be restored.
Parliamentary elections will be held in Georgia on October 26.
On May 14, the Georgian Parliament passed the law “On Transparency of Foreign Influence” in the third and final reading despite street protests. According to the law “On Transparency of Foreign Influence,” Georgia's nongovernmental organizations that receive a significant part of their funding from abroad must be registered from August 1. In addition, on September 17, the Georgian Parliament adopted in the third reading the law on banning LGBT* propaganda, same-sex marriage and sex change. The adoption of the law on foreign agents and the ban on LGBT* propaganda in Georgia has caused discontent in the West.
Reprinted from https://ria.ru/
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