No one is going to get one hundred per cent of what they want out of a compromise deal. That is by definition, the US Ambassador to Georgia Kelly Degnan declared in the TV Program Kviris Interview (Interview of the Week) on the Georgian Public Broadcaster.

Kelly Degnan accented that the mediators been working with the parties for five months on trying to resolve their differences.

“We have been trying to resolve their differences. And I think the parties have been constructive in the course of the five months. I’ve been impressed with their willingness to listen to each other, to articulate their concerns, to explain their priorities, to explore areas of possible compromise. There is no shortage of proposals put forth by either the ruling party or the opposition. There’s no lack of willingness to sit at a table together and talk about these different positions. What there is a lack of is the political courage to take the final step forward and to make compromises. No one is going to get one hundred per cent of what they want out of a compromise deal. That is by definition. And right now, I think it is. We saw last week after a very good intervention by Ambassador Danielsson. It appeared that some parties were not ready to make a final decision. It is yet to be seen how this process will end, but what we hope for is that the result achieved here will return Georgia to the right path of Euro-Atlantic aspirations. I said, NATO, EU membership requires compromise. This is the only way for consensus-based organizations to act,” the Ambassador said.

Ambassador Degnan believes people’s elected representatives must negotiate the solution to the political crisis in Georgia.

“We have at the table the elected representatives of the people, and Mr Ivanishvili and Mr Saakashvili are not elected representatives, and they’re not participants in this dialogue. The outcome, the solution here is going to be negotiated by the people’s elected representatives. And I hope it will represent the interests of all Georgians,” Kelly Degnan said.

However, when asked what is the difference between the famous events in the Capitol and the case of Nika Melia (Chairman of the opposition United National Movement kept in pre-trial detention), the US Ambassador noted: “The strongest difference that I take away from this is that it was the strength of America’s institutions that restored our confidence in the electoral process and the judicial process. That allowed our Congress to quickly return to the chamber and complete the certification of President Biden as our new president. That was that is part of the message that we have consumed the democracy strong. You cannot take for granted that a democracy is always going to be there. It’s only there if we the people continue to support it and fight to make sure that our institutions are strong and independent, the United States believes the place to fight for that is within the parliament is to use the institutions that you’ve built to make sure that they stay strong,” Kelly Degnan stated.