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Zurabishvili calls US decision to suspend financial aid to Georgia incomprehensible

Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili considers the US decision to suspend funding of the country's army incomprehensible. She said this during a press conference for Georgian media on Monday, August 5, her words were quoted by Rustavi 2 TV channel.


"I do not understand the limitation of the budget for our army and the budget for the Lugar laboratory," she said.


According to the Georgian president, imposing sanctions of this kind against the country's government is permissible, but one should not impose restrictions on assistance to the army, on which the defense of the state rests.


Earlier, on July 31, Reuters, citing an official statement of Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, reported that the U.S. authorities decided to suspend aid to Georgia for more than $95 million because of the adoption of the law on foreign agents.


The day before, the Georgian Ministry of Justice announced the creation of a special register for registration of organizations in the country, according to the law "On Transparency of Foreign Influence" adopted by the Parliament. NGOs and media funded from abroad will be registered in the country from August 1.


Before that, on July 15, the Parliament of Georgia reported that the law on foreign agents will come into force in a few weeks. At the same time it became known that the president of the republic Salome Zurabishvili, as well as a number of opposition MPs, filed a lawsuit against this initiative in the constitutional court of the country.


Georgia's relations with the United States and the European Union escalated in the spring due to the situation with the adoption of the law on foreign agents. The document was initially approved in May amid a series of protests in the country. Zurabishvili vetoed it, which deputies overrode. On June 3, Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili signed the law and it entered into legal force.


After that, the US imposed visa sanctions on dozens of Georgian citizens and expressed readiness to expand the restrictions. Commenting on this, Tbilisi Mayor Kakha Kaladze said that no one in the country is afraid of US sanctions. Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze called them insulting and said Tbilisi was determined to reset relations with Washington.


Reprinted from https://iz.ru/

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