This is an open acknowledgement of the influence foreign groups have on Madam Salome in Georgia. Such a statement the Speaker of the Georgian Parliament made regarding the nomination of Salome Zourabichvili as the McCain Institute’s 2025 Kissinger Fellow.

“This is a standard trajectory for such individuals. When Mikheil Saakashvili left office, he was granted the status of a researcher at a university. We all remember the McCain Institute’s role in fomenting disorder in Georgia, especially Laura Thornton [NDI Resident Director, who suggested that foreign election observers should endorse elections in Georgia while also supporting subsequent protests].

You may recall Laura Thornton expressed her disappointment and astonishment that violent rallies did not lead to casualties. This further highlights what we are up against. Witnessing such events is shameful, but when a person pursues this path, they lose all sense of shame”, - said Shalva Papuashvili.

For the context: the McCain Institute at Arizona State University announced the 5th President Salome Zourabichvili as its 2025 Kissinger Fellow: “As a Kissinger Fellow, Zourabichvili would continue the tradition of principled, strategic leadership in one of the world’s most consequential democratic battlegrounds”.