"This election seems to be a step back from the point of view of the process," the USA"s Special Representative for Negotiations with Ukraine" assessed the Presidential Elections . The OSCE"s critical conclusion on the presidential election and the statement of the State Department was discussed by Kurt Walker with the "Courier".

Walker has observed the processes taking place in Georgia with special interest. The diplomat says Georgia should correct the serious problems that the OSCE observers have observed and included in the report.
"First of all, I congratulate Ms. Zurabishvili. She is the elected president and I think it is very important that the Georgian people unite around her. In the democratic process she obviously received votes. As it was said, there were many problems in the election campaign, it seemed to be bribing votes, using administrative resources, campaign financing. All this is fixed in the OSCE report. There were serious problems. Now it is important that the Georgians stand together and eliminate the shortcomings that will not be repeated in the future. Especially in the forthcoming parliamentary elections. The next president is elected by the election board and the parliament will be elected by people. Such violations must be rectified before the next election, "- Kurt Walker said.
When asked whether the violations described in the OSCE report could damage Georgia"s reputation and its striving for Euro-Atlantic institutions, Walker said that these elections were a step backward in strengthening of democratic institutions and that is why it is of great importance to correct these violations.
"It"s frustrating. I would also say that there were problems during some previous elections in Georgia. The 2012 elections were good, but it also had problems. There was hope for Georgia"s trajectory to continue to deepen and strengthen democratic institutions. But progress is never going straight. These elections seem to be a step back from the point of view of the process. It is important that Georgia now use this time. and take into account all this - the OSCE report, reactions from abroad and eliminates the shortcomings in order to have better one in the future, "said Kurt Walker.
Another topic, which Kurt Walker spoke about with "Courier", was the statements made during the pre-election campaign on August war. A senior administration official says Russia started aggression against Georgia long before.