Georgian president compares break with US to betrayal

Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili has suggested that the US suspension of funding for the Lugar Laboratory is a result of the Georgian government's betrayal following its enactment of the law on foreign agents.

"During a period when the country’s demographic indicators have reached a catastrophic level and hundreds of thousands are leaving, the severance of such important ties with America is a direct act of betrayal," the president wrote on Facebook, Caliber.Az reports citing the Russian media.

She noted that during difficult periods, the US provided Georgia with medicines, vaccines, and equipment free of charge, which helped many residents recover from hepatitis C, AIDS, swine flu, and COVID-19.

Georgia's Parliamentary Speaker Shalva Papuashvili signed into law on June 3, 2024 a bill on "foreign agents" that has caused a political crisis in the South Caucasus country and drawn sharp criticism from its Western allies. Papuashvili signed the bill into law after government lawmakers to overcome a veto by President Salome Zourabichvili, who had criticised it. The legislation requires organisations receiving more than 20 per cent of their funding from overseas to register as "agents of foreign influence", and introduces fines for violations as well as onerous disclosure requirements.