UK freezes Wardrop dialogue with Georgia over government actions

The UK government has decided to freeze the Wardrop dialogue with Georgia at the ministerial level and cancel planned defence talks due to the actions of the Georgian authorities, said UK Ambassador to Georgia, Garrett Ward.

"‘For the mentioned reasons (actions of the Georgian authorities - ed.) for the first time in 10 years we, the British side, decided to freeze the annual Wardrop High-Level Ministerial Dialogue. This happened for the first time after the establishment of the dialogue format. We have also cancelled the planned high-level talks between defence staffs and suspended the new cyber security programme," Ward said, Caliber.Az reports, citing Russian media.

The ambassador also announced the cancellation of high-level defence negotiations and the suspension of a new cybersecurity program.

Ward emphasized that Georgia's relations with both the UK and other Western partners have deteriorated due to recent steps taken by the Georgian government. The British side expressed concern over the adoption of the "Foreign Influence Transparency" law by the Georgian parliament, which was enacted despite public protests.

Additionally, the UK was disappointed by the ruling party, Georgian Dream - Democratic Georgia, for promoting conspiracy theories and was shocked by its pre-election promise to ban opposition parties after the parliamentary elections on October 26.

Despite these setbacks, Ambassador Ward expressed hope that Georgia would return to its Euro-Atlantic path, regardless of the election outcome, and that close partnerships could be resumed in the future.

By Khagan Isayev