For the first time in 10 years, we on the British side have decided to freeze the annual high-level ‘Wardrop Dialogue’ between ministers. This is the first time since the dialogue format was established. We also canceled the planned high-level talks between the defense staff and suspended the new cyber security program, – UK Ambassador Gareth Ward said in an exclusive interview with InterpressNews.
The reason for freezing the dialogue was cited by the diplomat as the recent anti-democratic actions of the Georgian government, including the passing of a law restricting civil society, the promotion of conspiracy theories and the promise to ban opposition parties.
The ambassador expressed hope that after the elections the Georgian government will return to the pro-Western course and trust between the parties will be restored.
“I had expected that we would work together to strengthen Georgia’s resilience and our common prosperity, but over the past year the Georgian government has chosen a different course, and during my first months in Tbilisi I had to make clear our concerns about the decline of democracy and anti-Western rhetoric. I hope that the Georgian government will change its approach, which will allow me to regain optimism.
“Relations between Great Britain 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 the activities of civil society, even though it saw a lot of opposition from the public and committed itself not to put this law back on the agenda. We were disappointed when the leaders of Georgian Dream began to promote conspiracy theories and make assumptions that Western partners are undermining Georgia. We were shocked when “Georgian Dream” named the banning of opposition parties as a promise of its election program.
“For these reasons, for the first time in 10 years, we, the British side, have decided to freeze the annual high-level ‘Wardrop Dialogue’ between ministers. This is the first time since the dialogue format was established. We also canceled planned high-level talks between the defense chiefs and put a new cyber security program on hold. After the elections, regardless of who is in government, we hope to see clear evidence of a return to the Euro-Atlantic path to rebuild trust and return to a close partnership,” the UK ambassador said.
The United Kingdom–Georgia Strategic Dialogue, also known as Wardrop Dialogue is a high-level, annual strategic dialogue format between Georgia and United Kingdom that serves to address a wide range of co-operation issues, including foreign, security, and defense policy, as well as economy and trade. The inaugural session of the dialogue was held in November 2014 in London during Foreign Minister Tamar Beruchashvili’s visit in the UK. The meetings are held once a year, in London and Tbilisi alternatively.
The dialogue bears the name of Sir Oliver Wardrop, British diplomat who served as a first chief commissioner of the UK to Transcaucasia in 1919–20. He founded Kartvelian studies at Oxford University, was fluent in the Georgian language and published several books about the country.
