U.S. Senators, Jeanne Shaheen and Richard Durbin, on Monday, held a press point as part of their visit to Georgia.

Asked about media freedom in Georgia, Shaheen said “as the EU has set out in the conditions that they have asked Georgia to meet media freedom and human rights are absolutely critical to a democracy.”

She believes “a functioning democracy must have a free press who can investigate and look at what’s happening without fear that they are gonna be put in jail or intimidated.”

“Georgia will have to address that as it’s looking to join the EU. We also think it’s very important in a democracy that opponents or the opposition is not put in jail just because they are the opposition. I can’t speak to the charges against former President Saakashvili but I do believe the government, as it does with any prisoner, has a responsibility to ensure that their health is protected while they are in prison,” she stated.

As for the draft law on foreign agents, tabled by People’s power movement, Shaheen said that draft law “is not the same as the United States law. It is like the Russian law.”

“And if we look at, there has been a similar law passed by Hungary that has been struck down as being inconsistent with the EU’s values around human rights and this kind of transparency. So, I think this kind of a law is what I had would be referring to when I talk about backsliding on democracy,” she asserted.

Shaheen also responded to the question about the anti-Western campaign, saying “any time there’s a misinformation or deliberate misinformation about the West and the United States, it’s disappointing.”

“The United States, as I said, my opening remarks for 30 years has been a steadfast supporter of Georgia’s sovereignty, of its territorial integrity. We want nothing but prosperity and peace for Georgia and for Europe. We want peace. We want to see the war end in Ukraine. We do not want to see Putin invade any other country,” she stressed.

Asked about former Prime Minister and ruling Georgian dream party funder Bidzina Ivanishvili, Shaheen added: “With respect to Mr. Ivanishvili, his name did come up in our conversation with the Prime Minister and as I’m sure it comes up in dialogue in Georgia. And that was a private conversation. I would like to add, we also talked about it in the context of the deoligarchization.”