President of Georgia against Deployment of U.S. Military Bases in the Country

The President of Georgia, Salome Zourabishvili, in an interview with Voice of America said that she considered it inappropriate to deploying American military bases in the country, as many Georgian politicians insist. “Georgia does not need to take steps that might be viewed as provocations, and I don’t think that the United States would be ready for having here a military base that would attract probably reactions both from Russia and from these ... terrorist movements that are very active in the region”, Zourabishvili said. She also recalled that the United States had never addressed to the Georgian leadership with a proposal to deploy military bases in Georgia. The opposition protested and was perplexed by the President’s statement. One of the founders of the European Georgia Party, former Secretary of the national Security Council Giga Bokeria told reporters that Salome Zourabishvili, whose candidacy during last year’s elections was supported by the ruling Georgian Dream Party plays into the hands of Vladimir Putin, opposing the deployment of military bases of a friendly state that can protect the country from another Russian aggression. Svoboda.org