WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, released the following statement on the seventeenth anniversary of Russia’s illegal war on Georgia and subsequent occupation of Abkhazia and South Ossestia.
“Russia’s 2008 invasion of Georgia should have been a wake-up call to the international community that Russia intends to dominate its neighbors and attempt to obscure its aggression. Russia’s ruthless actions in Georgia foreshadowed actions in Ukraine, most recently through its full-scale war. The Georgian people understand what the ‘Russian World’ brings, and that is why they have fiercely resisted the Georgian Dream (GD) government’s efforts to draw them closer to anti-democratic, Russian-style rule.
“On this solemn anniversary, the United States must continue to express our rejection of Russia’s illegal annexation of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. I am deeply concerned by the Georgian Dream government’s erosion of democratic values and its betrayal of the Georgian people’s Euro-Atlantic aspirations. If the government seeks to honor the victims of Russian aggression, it must release political prisoners like journalist Mzia Amaglobeli and recommit to Georgia’s democratic future. I continue to support the Georgian people and will redouble my efforts to enact the bipartisan, bicameral MEGOBARI Act.”
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