Georgian Ombudsman Nino Lomjaria on official visit to Washington

Georgia: Georgian Ombudsman Nino Lomjaria was on an official visit to Washington on October 11-13, 2022, where he held meetings with the US Senate, Presidential Administration and high officials of the State Department, as well as the SAE With the leaders of international organisations.
According to the Ombudsman, the main message of our American partners is that the United States of America will stand by Georgia unabatedly until the Georgian people are willing to receive help in the democratic development process.
At the meetings held in Washington, the high support of the Georgian community for the country’s European integration and NATO integration were discussed, the progress of democratic reforms in the Euro-Atlantic integration process. Strengthening anti-Western, anti-democratic propaganda and rhetoric in Georgia in recent years, attacks against the NGO sector and the US ambassador have been emphasised. “Anti-democratic, anti-Western, anti-human rights-oriented political forces in Georgia have been strengthened over the last year. On the contrary, democratic actors need more support and help”, – said the Ombudsman after the meetings.
At the meetings, the Ombudsman spoke about justice issues, systematic problems of hidden surveillance and surveillance hostile and, in some cases, violent environments for journalists and human rights defenders top of the top.
Also, the Ombudsman has recently drawn attention to the issue of mass and illegal emigration of Georgian citizens to the United States, their arrests at the border crossing and the improper conditions at the detention centres. The Ombudsman and the State Department representatives agreed to cooperate to protect the rights of immigrants from Georgia.
Nino Lomjaria thanked the representatives of state and international structures for the great help provided to the Public Defender apparatus and asked them to continue their unwavering support of democratic institutions and actors of Georgia To implement democratic reforms.
During an official visit to Washington, the Ombudsman met with the Assistant Secretary of State for Europe and Eurasia Affairs, Karen Donfried and the Head of the Bureau of Democracy, Rights and Labor, Erin Barclay.
A meeting was held at the White House with Matthew Eussen, Director of the National Security Council for Southern Europe and South Caucasus Region.
The Ombudsman met with Chris Socha, the Chief of Staff of the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, Hannah Tobern, and political analyst Joseph Bigan, as well as the Senate Foreign Policy Adviser Shii to Thomas, the fox. At the meetings, the ongoing democratic reforms and the challenges of basic human rights were discussed.
At the meeting with Dr Alex Sokolovsky at the USAID Development Agency (USAID), the Ombudsman thanked the Agency for its support of the Oblast apparatus; also, the ongoing G2G project and the challenges in Georgia Web in the field of human rights and the rule of law.
Meetings were held with Stephen Nix, Regional Director of the International Republican Institute (IRI) Eurasia; Melissa Celine Musio, Senior Director of the International National Institute (NDI) Eurasian Program; also Eurasia With Miriam Lanskoy, Senior Director of the National Fund (NED) Russia and Eurasian Region.
The Ombudsman was on an official visit to the United States with his deputies, Tamar Gvaramadze and Giorgi Burjanadze.