Kremlin-Inspired Law 'Inconsistent' With Georgia's Western Aspirations, U.S. Warns

The United States on Monday once again urged the Georgian government to preserve a path toward Western integration, warning that a Kremlin-inspired "foreign influence" law being rammed through parliament went in the opposite direction, TURAN's Washington correspondent reports.

"We urge the government of Georgia to continue on the path of EU integration and one that's consistent with that," State Department Principal Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel told a daily briefing when responding to TURAN's questions.

"This kind of law – not only is it inconsistent with their own aspirations, it is, in fact, consistent with the kind of repressive legislation that we have seen in other – come from other regimes, whether it be the Kremlin or otherwise," Patel explained.

He went on to add that more than 80 percent of the Georgian people want EU membership. "The Georgian Government has said that it wanted to join the EU and have a relationship with transatlantic alliances such as NATO, but this kind of legislative activity that’s being pursued – this kind of government action, its current activity – is inconsistent with those stated goals."

When pressed by TURAN whether there was a messaging crisis from Washington on this topic, Patel disagreed, saying that "raising the alarm of these kinds of actions is certainly enough of a fire alarm, we hope."

And we’ll continue to consult closely with our partners in Europe on this," he concluded.

The spokesperson also confirmed that they were "aware" of reports that two Americans were among those people detained at protests in Tbilisi on Monday as lawmakers there debated a “foreign agents” bill.

"Whenever a U.S. citizen is detained abroad, we stand ready to provide all appropriate assistance.  But, given privacy considerations, I’m just not able to talk more about this," Patel said.

Several thousand protesters supported an all-night demonstration outside parliament over the weekend, in hopes of stopping ruling party GD lawmakers from entering the building. The lawmakers were able to enter the building, and the legislation was approved within a minute by the judiciary committee.

The bill is expected to be approved as early as today.