Mikheil Kavelashvili to Kelly Degnan: We should look for the narrative that America wants to get Georgia involved in war not in FSB manuals, but in the statements of people funded by you or affiliated with you

MP Mikheil Kavelashvili, who recently left the Georgian Dream, addresses the United States Ambassador to Georgia, Kelly Degnan, with an open letter and declares that no Russian soft power can shake America's reputation in Georgia as much as Degnan's statements or silence, "which people may perceive as an attempt to return the National Movement to power."

According to Mikheil Kavelashvili, the narrative that America wants to get Georgia involved in war should not be looked for in FSB manuals, but in the statements of people funded by or affiliated with Degnan and the Ambassador's no efforts to distance herself from them.

"Madam Ambassador! A few days ago, you said that anyone who claimed that America wants a war in Georgia was voicing the insidious narrative of FSB.

Of course, I would fully agree with you if it were not for the past and present connections of those people who, since the beginning of the Russian military aggression in Ukraine, are trying to incite and implement the idea of ​​war in Georgia.

We remind you that from February 24, that is, for several weeks after the beginning of the war, an active campaign was launched in Georgia for maximum support for Ukraine. There was an active attempt to involve Georgia in the war from different sides, and I, along with two members of the team, made the decision to leave the party, first of all, to avoid this danger for the country.

Within the framework of this campaign, specific people actively demanded that Georgia join the sanctions, which would naturally increase the risks of the country's involvement in the war. Also, we know that various sides actively demanded the sending of planes full of Georgian volunteers to Ukraine, which meant direct involvement of Georgia in the military conflict.

Madam Ambassador, in order to protect the image of America, it would be good if you would publicly disassociate yourself from these provocations carried out by the National ­Movement. However, unfortunately, I do not remember any of your speeches on this topic. Moreover, you even publicly supported the demand to join the sanctions.

In addition, later, your main support in Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, recalled the Ukrainian Ambassador from Georgia precisely because of the sanctions and non-sending of the plane. The calculation was simple: Zelensky, who was at the zenith of his popularity at that time, should have caused excitement and created a revolutionary charge in the Georgian society. However, the outrage lasted only 2-3 hours and the plan failed. It's a pity that you didn't distance yourself from this completely incomprehensible decision of the "pro-American" Zelensky, which, to say the least, was an expression of dissatisfaction caused by Georgia's non-involvement in the war.

Later, this was followed by the statements of other "pro-American" Ukrainian politicians - Podolyak, Arestovych, Honcharenko, Danilov, Arakhamia and others, who openly called for Georgia's involvement in the war and an attack on Abkhazia and Tskhinvali. Unfortunately, we have not heard your position on these statements either.

As for the rhetoric of the Georgian "pro-Americans", first of all, I will recall the leader of American NGOs in Georgia, Eka Gigauri, who openly said - "Russia is losing the war in Ukraine, it does not have the resources to be there, so it cannot start military actions in all directions, and we must do everything to use this window of opportunity." When Eka Gigauri, declared as the main pro-American leader of Georgia, calls us to war with such an open text, you can judge for yourself what the public should think.

Nino Lomjaria, who is widely known to have become an Ombudsman as a result of the active support of the Embassy, ​​was particularly active at the political rallies on Rustaveli, which were held to provide "more aid" to Ukraine. At the rally, Lomjaria protested Gharibashvili's statement about not joining the sanctions and said, "I prefer fire from bombs." When Lomjaria prefers fire from bombs over not joining sanctions, the Georgian people logically think that this is exactly your priority too. Therefore, it would be good if you could distance yourself from Lomjaria's statement, however, we have not heard your position in this case either. On the contrary, I would like to remind you that Nino Lomjaria is still your absolute favorite, whom you most often urge the government to believe.

The same applies to Giorgi Margvelashvili, Davit Usupashvili, Tamar Chergoleishvili, Misha Mshvildadze and others, whose rhetoric aimed at joining the war is associated with you in the eyes of the people. And at such a time, if you do not distance yourself from these people, people logically think that you are the one behind the "pro-American" society of Georgia.

Therefore, we should look for the narrative that America wants to get Georgia involved in war not in FSB manuals, but in the statements of people funded by you or affiliated with you, and no efforts on your part to distance yourself from them. It is completely incomprehensible to me why your financed or approved NGOs, parties and televisions help to strengthen the narrative of FSB in Georgia.

Today's rallies are directly related to all of this, which are organized by the same people who were distinguished by the rhetoric of war, called us to join the sanctions and send the airplanes, and with these demands, they also organized protest rallies in February-March.

These people were trained by Peter Ackerman, who came from America shortly after the start of the war.

The same people who receive solid funding from you as NGOs, stood on Rustaveli a couple of days ago and made a political demand for the resignation of the Government according to Bakuriani's scenario. In this most difficult geopolitical situation and against the background of the ongoing war in Ukraine, why a man should think about a coup is probably easy for a child to guess: everything is still going towards what we were openly called for in February-March, that is, war.

It is beyond my understanding why you do not distance yourself from the demand for the resignation of the Government and the technical government of the people that you sponsor. Not to mention, you have full leverage to influence these people's behavior. As it is known, whoever pays the money also orders the music. When you don't distance yourself from the demand of technical government, people will logically think that you at least support the demand, and at worst, they will think that the demand is your idea. Therefore, in my opinion, it is also necessary that you publicly and clearly distance yourself from the demand for a technical government, so that the Georgian people do not think badly of America.

Also, the artificial forcing of an issue of a candidate is completely incomprehensible. As it is known, no material privileges are attached to the status of a candidate, and therefore, Georgia does not lose anything by not receiving this status in three or six months. That is, if we get the status, practically we have nothing in our hands, and if we do not get the status, the country will be threatened with revolution once again. At such a time, forcing can have only one goal, to artificially create a revolutionary background. However, unfortunately for me, you also actively participated in the forcing campaign, which may raise additional questions for the public.

Most importantly, it is impermissible for people to think that you want the return to power of those people who would blindly involve Georgia in the war as soon as they get power.

I would like to recall here that, unfortunately, you still did not distance yourself from the statement of one of your predecessors, the former American ambassador, William Courtney, who called Bidzina Ivanishvili, whom you called a philanthropist at the time, an oligarch without any basis and repeated the message of the National ­Movement on de-oligarchization.

Georgia­n Dream, in its style, avoids asking these questions and I am sure it will avoid it in the future. However, as an elected member of the Parliament of Georgia and an ordinary citizen of this country, I consider myself obliged to ask you these questions.

Hopefully, I will get public and clear answers to my questions, which is necessary in order to prevent the worst damage to the image of America in Georgia. If the Georgian people believe that America wants to overthrow the government and bring the "war party" to power, which has already plunged the country into war and many other troubles, believe me, the "American idea" in Georgia can experience a complete depreciation. No Russian soft power can shake America's reputation in Georgia as much as your statements or silence, which people may perceive as an attempt to return the National ­Movement to power," Mikheil Kavelashvili says in a letter.

Levan Gurgenidze - Progressing Towards Transparent and Fair Elections in Pakistan: Mapping the Course for Democratic Advancement
Azerbaijan’s energy resources as one of the key elements of Europe’s energy diversification
George Katcharava - On the second anniversary of the war in Ukraine, there is no alternative to Georgia’s EU and NATO membership to ensure our national security and prosperity