U.S. postpones military exercise in Georgia

Members of Georgian special operations forces and Green Berets with U.S. Army 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne) perform a training dive in Batumi, Georgia, October 25, 2023 in Exercise Georgian Wave | Photo: U.S. Army/Staff Sgt. Laura Bauer

The U.S. has postponed a military exercise in Georgia after its government made pro-Russia allegations against the U.S. and its allies.

The U.S. Department of Defense issued a statement last week that ‘The United States has initiated a comprehensive review of the United States – Georgia bilateral relationship. As part of that review, the United States will indefinitely postpone this iteration of exercise NOBLE PARTNER in Georgia, originally scheduled for July 25 – August 6, 2024.’

The Pentagon said the U.S. government ‘began a full review of all bilateral cooperation with Georgia’ on May 30. ‘The decision to postpone this iteration of NOBLE PARTNER is due to the Georgian government’s false accusations against the United States and other western entities, to pressure Georgia to open a second front against Russia to alleviate pressure on Ukraine, and of participating in two coup attempts against the ruling party. As such, the United States Government has determined that this is an inappropriate time to hold a large-scale military exercise in Georgia.’

Described as anti-American and anti-European, Irakli Kobakhidze, of the Georgian Dream Party, who became prime minister of the country in February, accused ‘high-ranking Ukrainian officials’ of attempting to drag Georgia into its war by opening a second front against Russia in Georgia, after Georgia’s security agencies were reported to have seized a Ukrainian truck loaded with explosives bound for Russia, said to have been hidden in a cargo of car batteries and driven from Ukraine via Romania, Bulgaria and Turkey.

In March, Kobakhidze accused the U.S. government of supporting ‘revolution attempts,’ saying ‘Had these attempts been successful, the second front line would have been opened in Georgia,’ after meeting with a U.S. State Department official. The Georgian Dream Party has alleged the existence of a ‘Global War Party’ that aims to push Georgia into a war with Russia.

Georgia’s parliament overturned a presidential veto of a ‘Russia-style’ ‘foreign-agents law’ on May 28, two days before the Pentagon said the U.S. had begun its comprehensive review of the bilateral relationship. Georgia’s President Salome Zourabichvili, who is perceived as pro-western, had vetoed the new law, which would require non-governmental organisations that receive funds from abroad, which are alleged to be attempting to overthrow Georgia’s government, to register as ‘foreign agents’ with Georgia’s security agencies. Georgia aspires to join, both, the European Union and NATO.

The Russian government has supported the new law. Russia has occupied the Georgian regions of Abkhazia and Southern Ossetia since the war in 2008 and has built a military presence in the regions, including plans for a naval base on the Black Sea in Abhkhazia, which some observers think might serve as a fallback position for the Russian Navy, which has experienced losses due to Ukrainian attacks on their warships in Sevastopol in Crimea and Novorossiysk.

U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken announced in May that the U.S. would implement ‘visa restrictions for individuals, whether current or former state or non-state actors who are responsible for, or complicit in, undermining democracy in Georgia, including through the use of violence, force, or coercion to impede the exercise of civil or political rights, as well as the immediate family members of such individual.’

The Pentagon said ‘the United States will continue to partner with the Georgian Defense Forces as we look to continue strengthening Georgia’s ability to safeguard its sovereignty and maintain its territorial integrity,’ adding, ‘We have not made this decision lightly, and we place great consideration on the extensive value that our Allies and Partners add to exercises such as NOBLE PARTNER. The United States looks forward to future opportunities to cooperate with Allies and Partners, including AGILE SPIRIT in 2025.’