“The statements issued by the US government, including the US Secretary of State, are not made in haste. These are messages of concern from Georgia’s strategic partner that should be taken very seriously,” said US Ambassador to Georgia, Kelly Degnan.

Asked to assess the statements made by the US Secretary of State and the US Department of State about the recent judicial nominations in Georgia, US Ambassador also commented on possible sanctions.

“Sanctions are one of the many tools that are available. You have seen in the statements issued by the United States Embassy, by the US Department of State, by the US Secretary of State that we are deeply disappointed that this process went through after many engagements that we urged to pause. Georgia’s political leaders, including the ruling party, agreed that these appointments would be paused until a broad, inclusive, multiparty judicial reform. That has not yet happened. And that is why we are very disappointed that these judges were appointed.

The parliament could have paused the appointment process but shows not to. I would say that the statements issued by the US government, including the US Secretary of State, are not made in haste. These are messages of concern from Georgia’s strategic partner that should be taken very seriously and not be disregarded,” Kelly Degnan said.

The US Department of State and US Secretary of State said in their statements that the US was deeply troubled by the Georgian Parliament’s July 12 approval of six Supreme Court nominees, in contravention of the April 19 agreement between ruling and opposition party representatives.