President Kavelashvili expresses dissatisfaction with Trump's lack of attention and issues a warning about a perceived 'deep state' potentially exploiting the situation
In a significant move, Georgia's President Mikheil Kavelashvili has penned a letter to US President Donald Trump, expressing concern about the lack of attention from the Trump administration towards Georgia.
The letter comes amidst a deterioration in relations between the two countries, largely due to the Georgian Dream government's adoption of repressive laws, disputed elections, and police violence against anti-government protesters.
Kavelashvili's letter resembles a previous missive from Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze, who also complained about the lack of high-level talks or communication between their administration and the Georgian Dream government. The bipartisan MEGOBARI Act, calling for sanctions against representatives of Georgian Dream, passed the US House of Congress in May, further straining relations.
Kavelashvili's government has expressed a desire to 'reset' relations with the United States. However, the president notes that in the first months of his presidency, Trump established relations with most of Georgia's neighbours, but says nothing about Georgia.
The Georgian Dream government made a concerted effort to court Trump's administration while often echoing his rhetoric when addressing domestic issues. This strategy, however, was not enough to prevent the US from suspending its strategic partnership with Georgia in November of the previous year.
The US later sanctioned Bidzina Ivanishvili, the billionaire founder and honorary chair of Georgian Dream, for undermining Georgia's democratic and Euro-Atlantic future.
Kavelashvili believes that instead of the administration, it is the 'deep state' that is taking the lead. The 'deep state' referred to by Kavelashvili includes US organizations such as USAID and the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), which he claims are seeking to destabilize and disrupt peace in Georgia.
Organizations suspected to be part of the "deep state" network in the United States include members targeted by Project 2025, which aims to replace around 50,000 federal employees perceived as disloyal during Trump's first term with ideologically aligned conservatives prepared to fight the deep state. Their goals related to Georgia are not explicitly detailed, but the broader aim includes systemic ideological control and opposition to left-wing forces within government institutions.
The opposition boycotted the presidential vote and the entire parliamentary process following the parliamentary elections marked by major violations. Kobakhidze, a Georgian Dream leader, published a lengthy open letter to Trump and Vice President JD Vance, complaining about the lack of high-level communication between the two countries and the MEGOBARI act.
As the Biden administration has frozen the strategic partnership between the US and Georgia as part of its 'aggressive policy toward sovereign states', it remains to be seen how the relations between the two countries will evolve in the future.
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