During her visit to Georgia, the US Deputy Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security, Bonnie Denise Jenkins, expressed her support for the US Ambassador to Georgia, Kelly Degnan.
Jenkins came to Georgia to attend the conference of the Biosafety Association in Central Asia and the Caucasus region. Jenkins said she would meet with government officials to discuss various issues and voice his support for Kelly Degnan and her team.
"In addition, I am here to meet with Georgian leaders to discuss some other areas of our countries' strategic interests: border security, customs, and defense issues. In the framework of these meetings, I expect to convey from Washington a message of strong support for the enormous and important work that Ambassador Degnan and her embassy team are in Georgia to support and advance Georgia's Euro-Atlantic aspirations, to the Government of Georgia for their willingness to work with us to resolve these issues," Jenkins said.
She also emphasized that the attacks on Degnan are part of a larger disinformation scheme. "The effort has not been easy, especially in recent times when we have been concerned about personal attacks on Ambassador Degnan and the embassy. Let's be clear, this is part of a larger scheme of disinformation to cover up the truth and the reality of the current crisis in Europe created by one man," said the US Deputy Secretary of State.
This follows a month-long spat between some Georgia politicians and the US ambassador exchanging criticism over issues such as alleged American interference in Georgia's internal affairs.
According to Ambassador Degnan, senior US officials in Washington are asking questions about conspiracy theories against the US in Georgia and wondering why the government is not more aggressive in its disinformation measures.
"A number of senior officials in Washington are asking me about the motives of those who continue to repeat lies and conspiracy theories consistent with pro-Russian disinformation. There are also questions about why the ruling party and government do not distance themselves more sharply from this disinformation. There are questions about the motives of those trying to sow confusion and further divide Georgian society. I think the real question is what purpose does this serve? Are they trying to damage the strong partnership that has existed between the United States and Georgia for 30 years now?" Degnan said in an interview with the main channel.
On June 28, three deputies of Georgian Dream, Sozar Subari, Mikheil Kavelashvili, and Dimitri Khundadze, announced that they had left the ruling party. Later, Guram Macharashvili joined them. According to them, the main goal is to prevent the implementation of the plan "which should lead Georgia to unrest, war, and Russian military occupation." However, according to their explanation, to "equip the society with the truth," speaking publicly on certain topics would cause inconvenience to the Georgian Dream, so they decided to leave the party.
Since leaving the Georgian Dream, the MPs have started an anti-Western campaign, including against the US ambassador to Georgia, Kelly Degnan, to whom they have dedicated several letters. The MPs claim that the US Embassy is trying to open a second war front in Georgia and that the Embassy is "doing everything" to overthrow the government.
On August 17, the ambassador responded by saying that she was unsure how different they were from the Georgian dream. On September 2, Prime Minister Gharibashvili tried to separate himself from the four. He said spreading and exaggerating Degnan's criticism is not in the country's interests.
