U.S. Helsinki Commission hearing: witnesses warn Georgian Dream is eroding democracy, urge U.S. accountability

Leaders and experts testifying before the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe on behalf of the U.S. Helsinki Commission warned that Georgia’s ruling Georgian Dream party has taken the country off a pro‑Western path and urged the United States to use targeted measures — including the bipartisan Megabari Act — to support civil society and hold Georgian officials accountable.

At a Washington hearing, former Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili said Georgia “has turned its back” on the strategic partnership with the United States and is aligning more closely with Russia, China and Iran. “For the first time in more than three decades, the ruling regime in Georgia has turned its back to this partnership,” Zourabichvili said. She told commissioners that U.S. investment and training helped build Georgia’s institutions and defense forces and that the country’s strategic position on the Black Sea and the so‑called “middle corridor” make its democratic trajectory a U.S. security interest.

Former Georgian defense minister Tinatin Khidasheli testified that Georgian Dream has “systematically and rapidly abandoned” Georgia’s national interest by undermining institutions, manipulating elections and deepening ties with authoritarian…