US Vice President Mike Pence Meets with Georgian Opposition Leaders

US Vice President Mike Pence met with the leaders of Georgian opposition parties at Tbilisi Marriott Hotel yesterday, while on a two day visit to Tbilisi. 

“We’ve talked about the processes that are currently going on in our country, the constitutional and election reforms; we’ve also talked about the issues related to the freedom of speech and Rustavi 2” David Bakradze, leader of the European Georgia commented. “Our position and the position of our American partners coincides fully, that democratic Georgia is the country which will receive maximum support, that will find itself in Euro-Atlantic area and NATO and will be able to defend itself from Russian aggression,” he noted. 

As Davit Usupashvili, former leader of the republican party, now founder of the newly formed “Buildup movement” stated, the meeting Vice President Pence focused on the issues of democracy, security and economic development. “I have initiated the saying - Georgia first, America next, meaning we’ll be continuing to cooperate fully” he stated in a TV comment, as he said he had also underlined the importance of strengthening Georgia’s economy, without which “we can’t play the role United States sees us in”. Usupashvili pointed out that that the next elections should be consolidating rather than serperating, and it’s vitally important to agree on constitutional and election matters. 

Shalva Shavgulidze, leader of the Free Democrats spoke about the informal governance threats and the problems of democratic development in the country. 

“It was a very interesting meeting, more productive than I could have thought,” Nika Melia, Leader of the UNM said. “US’s Vice President’s visit to Georgia shows that both the US administration and Vice President Pence support the sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence of Georgia”, Melia noted. “We have discussed numerous topics during the meeting, the necessary constitutional changes; we’ve also talked about political, social and economic safety, which is the corner stone of the country’s development.” Melia said. He also mentioned that he spoke about Georgia’s former president Mikheil Saakashvili, but stated that he didn’t want to disclose any details further.

By Nino Gugunishvili