The News in Brief
Friday, October 7, 2022
Prepared by Messenger Staff
Attacks on Kelly Degnan are a part of a larger scheme, Bonnie Davis Jenkins says
During her visit to Georgia, the US Deputy Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security, Bonnie Davis Jenkins, expressed her support for the US Ambassador to Georgia, Kelly Degnan.
Jenkins came to Georgia to attend the conference of the Biosafety Association in Central Asia and the Caucasus region.
Jenkins said she will meet with government officials to discuss various issues and voice his support for Kelly Degnan and her team.
"During my visit, I will also meet with Georgian leaders to discuss various areas and directions of our cooperation and strategic interests, such as border security, and customs defense, and during all these meetings I expect to convey a message of strong support from Washington for the enormous and important work that Ambassador Kelly Degnan and her embassy team are committed to supporting and advancing Georgia's Euro-Atlantic aspirations and to the Government of Georgia for their willingness to work with us on these issues," Jenkins said.
In addition, Jenkins emphasized that the 'attacks' on Kelly Degnan are part of a larger disinformation scheme.
"The effort has not been easy, especially in recent times when we have been concerned about personal attacks on Ambassador Degnan and the embassy. Let's be clear, this is part of a larger scheme of disinformation to cover up the truth and the reality of the current crisis in Europe created by one man." said the US Deputy Secretary of State.
Irakli Kobakhidze responds to the US Deputy Secretary of State's statement
Chairman of "Georgian Dream", Irakli Kobakhidze, in response to the statement of the US Deputy Secretary of State, said that only Nika Gvaramia and Nika Melia attacked the US ambassador, while the deputies who left "Georgian Dream" and formed "People's Power" party, were asking questions, which is within the scope of freedom of expression.
According to Kobakhidze, if he believed that the members of "People's Power" were attacking the ambassador and damaging relations with the states, he would have separated from them.
"I only remember two cases of the attack on the US ambassador, one from Gvaramia and the other from Melia. As for certain critical statements, any politician has the right to do so, including politicians in the majority. We are proud of freedom of expression, one of the constitutional, basic rights.
Asking a question when it is considered an attack, or then interpreting a non-answer as an attack, is itself an attack on freedom of expression. When a person asks questions, cannot get answers, then tries to explain this situation, this is a component of freedom of expression", said Kobakhidze.
According to Irakli Kobakhidze, there is a lot of information of interest to the public, which they do not intend to make public because they are careful about relations with the United States.
When asked whether such information can be made public by the members of "People's Power", Kobakhidze said that he does not know "what they will bring out and what they will not".
"I can tell you that what they are talking about is not 100%, not even 50% of the information at their disposal. They know much more and I don't know what they will say and what they won't say," Kobakhidze said.
Attacks on Kelly Degnan are a part of a larger scheme, Bonnie Davis Jenkins says
Jenkins came to Georgia to attend the conference of the Biosafety Association in Central Asia and the Caucasus region.
Jenkins said she will meet with government officials to discuss various issues and voice his support for Kelly Degnan and her team.
"During my visit, I will also meet with Georgian leaders to discuss various areas and directions of our cooperation and strategic interests, such as border security, and customs defense, and during all these meetings I expect to convey a message of strong support from Washington for the enormous and important work that Ambassador Kelly Degnan and her embassy team are committed to supporting and advancing Georgia's Euro-Atlantic aspirations and to the Government of Georgia for their willingness to work with us on these issues," Jenkins said.
In addition, Jenkins emphasized that the 'attacks' on Kelly Degnan are part of a larger disinformation scheme.
"The effort has not been easy, especially in recent times when we have been concerned about personal attacks on Ambassador Degnan and the embassy. Let's be clear, this is part of a larger scheme of disinformation to cover up the truth and the reality of the current crisis in Europe created by one man." said the US Deputy Secretary of State.
Irakli Kobakhidze responds to the US Deputy Secretary of State's statement
According to Kobakhidze, if he believed that the members of "People's Power" were attacking the ambassador and damaging relations with the states, he would have separated from them.
"I only remember two cases of the attack on the US ambassador, one from Gvaramia and the other from Melia. As for certain critical statements, any politician has the right to do so, including politicians in the majority. We are proud of freedom of expression, one of the constitutional, basic rights.
Asking a question when it is considered an attack, or then interpreting a non-answer as an attack, is itself an attack on freedom of expression. When a person asks questions, cannot get answers, then tries to explain this situation, this is a component of freedom of expression", said Kobakhidze.
According to Irakli Kobakhidze, there is a lot of information of interest to the public, which they do not intend to make public because they are careful about relations with the United States.
When asked whether such information can be made public by the members of "People's Power", Kobakhidze said that he does not know "what they will bring out and what they will not".
"I can tell you that what they are talking about is not 100%, not even 50% of the information at their disposal. They know much more and I don't know what they will say and what they won't say," Kobakhidze said.