US Ambassador to Georgia Kelly Degnan Friday said, “there’s a lot of tension in Georgia.”

“Sometimes people get emotional in this environment. For 30 years, the United States has worked with Georgia across the board as one of the strongest supporters – if not the strongest supporter of Georgia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” she commented on a question about the expedience of the “technical government” given acknowledged election results.

 “We have worked with whichever party was in power over the years to strengthen Georgia’s security, to strengthen the Georgian defense forces, the border police, the Coast Guard, the public health, education, to help diversify the economy. We have supported Georgia throughout the years in the most important priority for the Georgian people – which is to become a full, secure, stable, democratic country that’s a part of the Euro-Atlantic family of nations. It’s commendable when any member of Parliament is concerned about his or her constituency. That’s important. I’m sure the constituencies of these MPs appreciate the interest being shown for their concerns,” the Ambassador noted.

Kelly Degnan believes “the vast majority of Georgians have their top priority as joining the European Union.” She thinks “they would like to see the passion and the energy go into working inclusively with the opposition, civil society, and stakeholders to address these 12 recommendations from the European Council that are the ticket for Georgia getting its candidate status. That is the priority for the Georgian people.”

“I expect this would be the priority for their members of Parliament. My role as the U.S. ambassador is to discuss U.S. policy. The United States is working very hard to prevent President Putin’s unprovoked war against Ukraine from expanding to include Georgia or any other country.

We are working every day to try and stop this war as soon as possible. Putin launched this war and Putin can stop it today. What the United States is working for is restoring peace and stability, so we can get on with the kind of work so important for Georgia’s future in the European Union, in NATO, in Euro-Atlantic family of nations. That is again, all the areas we’ve been working on so closely in such a good partnership – whatever party was in power – with Georgia over the past 30 years,” she underscored.