The United Kingdom has decided to suspend the “Wardrop Dialogue” with Georgia at the ministerial level and cancel the high-level talks between the defense ministries’ staffs.
British Ambassador to Georgia told the IPN agency, Babel reports.
The Wardrope Dialogue is an annual format of high-level strategic dialogue between the UK and Georgia. It was launched in 2014 and named after Oliver Wardrop, the first British High Commissioner to Georgia in 1919-1921.
The ambassador expressed hope that after the elections, the Georgian government would return to a pro-Western course and trust between the parties would be restored.
According to him, relations between the UK and Georgia, as well as with other Western partners, have been damaged by the steps taken by the Georgian government this year.
We were concerned when the parliament passed a law restricting civil society, even though it saw a lot of public opposition, and it has pledged not to bring it back on the agenda. We were disappointed when the leaders of the Georgian Dream began to put forward conspiracy theories and suggest that Western partners were undermining Georgia. We were shocked when the Georgian Dream called the banning of opposition parties a promise of their election program, – Gareth Ward said.
He noted that it was decided to freeze the Wardrop Dialogue for the first time since the format of the dialogue was created. Also, the planned high-level talks between defense ministers have been canceled, and a new cybersecurity program has been suspended.
