Whoever wins US election, situation in Georgia will not change — Archil Sikharulidze 

Speaking with Alpha News, Georgian political scientist and founder of the Sikha Foundation project Archil Sikharulidze commented on the impact of the US presidential election on the political situation in Georgia.

“Whoever wins the US election, the situation in Georgia is stable and it will not change. So whether Harris wins or Trump wins, it will not change anything because, in fact, all of Harris’ rhetoric in Georgia continues as it is. If Trump wins, maybe in a couple of months the US ambassador to Georgia will speak differently; maybe she will change her rhetoric because the previous US ambassador to Georgia, being an ambassador from Donald Trump, said one thing, but as soon as Biden came into the administration, the rhetoric instantly changed and became more aggressive towards the government. It was evident,” Sikharulidze said.

According to the expert, Georgia should keep foreign policy balance.

“Nothing will change in Georgian policy, because there is a very clear understanding that Georgia cannot afford to pursue some radical anti-Russian and pro-Western position. Georgia should keep a balance. The elections have indicated this, but the current US ambassador to Georgia is not happy with this balance because the American administration, represented by Biden, is demanding more anti-Russian sentiments from Georgia. If Kamala Harris wins, nothing will change. If Trump wins, perhaps in a month or two the ambassador will be less aggressive, more restrained, because at the moment it is obvious that she and her administration consider the Georgian Dream not friendly. She will stop directly interfering in the processes of Georgia, stop saying that Russia won in Georgia. Through her connections, she will try to point out to the opposition that it is necessary to recognize the elections, stop constantly speaking on behalf of the Georgian people, and most importantly, she will stop putting the Georgian people in front of an absolutely unreasonable choice—Europe and America, or Russia—because the Georgian voter for the most part does not perceive the situation like this,” Sikharulidze concluded.