NATO countries do not have the governments boycotted by oppositions, said James Appathurai, NATO Deputy Assistant Secretary General for Political Affairs and Security Policy and NATO Secretary General’s Special Representative for the Caucasus and Central Asia, in an exclusive interview with the Georgian Public Broadcaster.

Appathurai said he knows that negotiations were ongoing between the ruling party and opposition in Georgia and that he has recently learned that the opposition chose to boycott the parliament.

“I know that the United States and the European Union were very active in Georgia talking to the opposition and the government. What we have said to the leadership in Georgia is that we would like to see the diminishment of polarization.

Some NATO countries also have very divided political systems and that is not news to anyone. But having a functioning government including the sitting and active opposition is the essence of how the governments in NATO countries operate.

We do not have governments boycotted by oppositions so the polarization in Georgia is first and foremost a problem for Georgia. But the whole international community would like to see it to be diminished between the opposition and the government as soon as possible,” James Appathurai said.