TBILISI (AFP) — A senior US envoy on Wednesday praised the government of the former Soviet republic Georgia for how it has handled weeks of opposition protests calling on President Mikheil Saakashvili to resign.
"We appreciated the way the government is dealing with the protests," Philip Gordon, the US assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs, told a press conference in the Georgian capital Tbilisi.
He also said the US supports democratic reforms in Georgia, including on media freedom.
Georgia's opposition has been staging daily protests since April 9, accusing Saakashvili of having mishandled a five-day war with Russia last August and of having become increasingly autocratic since coming to power after the peaceful 2003 Rose Revolution.
Police have allowed the protests to continue for two months, despite street blockades that have disrupted traffic on the capital's main street and outside some government buildings.
Saakashvili has offered talks on democratic reforms, but negotiations have so far failed to resolve the deadlock.
Clashes between police and protesters have erupted twice since the demonstrations began, raising fears of wider unrest.
Washington has been a strong backer of Georgia's efforts to build closer ties with the West and to join the NATO military alliance and Gordon said that support would continue.
"We are here to emphasise our interest and our support to Georgia. We stand by Georgia, we stand by its territorial integrity, democracy, relations with the United States," he said.
Gordon, who was on a tour of the South Caucasus region, met with senior government officials and opposition leaders in Georgia. He visited Armenia on Tuesday and was due in Azerbaijan on Thursday.
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