Swedish Aid to Georgia Spent on Talk Shows About EU, NATO Membership

The $12 million allocated by Sweden to Georgia, were spent on radio and television shows, talk shows, salaries to the heads of the companies and flights to Washington.

MOSCOW, January 20 (Sputnik) — Swedish financial aid to Georgia has been used by American organizations operating in the country to produce talk shows, as well as radio and television programs, about the European Union and NATO membership, the Aftonbladet tabloid newspaper reported Tuesday, citing government documents.

According to the media outlet, since 2007, 95 million Swedish kronor (around $12 million) went towards American organizations in Georgia, such as the National Democratic Institute (NDI), the Eurasia Foundation (EF) and the Eurasia Partnership Foundation (EPF). These organizations, claiming to promote the democratization of certain countries, spent vast amounts of money on radio and television shows, talk shows, salaries to the heads of the companies and flights to Washington.

"The aid has been assessed as highly relevant," the spokesperson of Sida, the government agency responsible for Sweden's assistance to developing countries, said, as quoted by Aftonbladet.

Last year, NDI produced 29 talk shows using Swedish money. Hundreds of thousands of kronor were spent on producing Europe-themed shows, training courses for journalists and the translation of works of nonfiction, which were given to Georgians for free. In 2011-2013, a 49-episode program was made, explaining to Georgians why it was important to join the EU.

"Getting closer to the EU and NATO membership were relevant themes, so it is only natural that Sida was involved. Support of the rapprochement of Georgia with Europe has been an important part of Swedish work in the area of development since 2006," the Sida spokesperson said.

Sweden started providing aid to Georgia in 1994. Combatting poverty, the rehabilitation of infrastructure, assistance to refugees and support of health and education were the initial aims of the aid programs, following the collapse of the Soviet Union and a civil war. Since Mikhail Saakashvili came to power, Georgia has initiated close cooperation with the United States.