We do not need any lobbying services, either officially or unofficially - I do not know whether what is said in the The Hill article is correct, we have nothing to do with this issue and the Georgian people do not need any protection! - Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili said in response to a question asked in connection with the article published in The Hill, according to which Steve Nikandros, the CEO of a Texas oil company, is lobbying against the MEGOBARI Act.

According to Papuashvili, “it is necessary to understand what role Georgia has played in strengthening the strategic partnership with the United States”.

Speaking about the article, he repeatedly stated “The Georgian people do not need protection.”

“On behalf of the Georgian government, I can say that we are not going to lobby for anything and we do not need to. The Georgian people have done a lot to show in Georgian-American relations that we are a country that not only wants to benefit from this relationship, but is also ready to support the one with whom it has a strategic partnership. We have stood by the American people and the American government many times. A while ago we heard Denmark’s statement regarding their participation in Afghanistan. Let us remind you that Georgia was represented in Afghanistan with the largest military contingent among non-NATO countries. Georgia was the fourth among NATO member states in terms of the number of contingents. Georgia lost the most soldiers per capita in the war, where we fought side by side with the Americans. When we see the anti-Georgian rhetoric from the Helsinki Commission or individual congressmen, this shows the underestimation of the contribution of the Georgian people to our common cause and standing by each other.

In general, we think that the lobbying system is not right when we see that some actions are being taken with some lobbying effort, interests, in exchange for benefits, and not with sincere political motivation and ideas. This has repeatedly become the basis for scandal in America itself.

The main thing is one thing - the anti-Georgian rhetoric must stop in order to reset our relations,” said Shalva Papuashvili.