ICYMI: Shaheen Addresses Need for U.S. Policy toward Black Sea Region with WSJ

**Shaheen leads bipartisan legislation with Senator Mitt Romney (R-UT) that would establish a U.S. policy toward the Black Sea region, which is a critical geopolitical area amid Putin’s war in Ukraine** 

(Washington, DC) – U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Europe and Regional Security Cooperation, spoke with Daniel Michaels at the Wall Street Journal on the importance of Black Sea states amid Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine. 

Specifically, Shaheen addressed concerns about the vulnerability of the region amid Russia’s most recent further invasion of Ukraine, which is a significant geopolitical inflection point. She underscored the need for a concrete U.S. policy toward the region, which legislation she leads with U.S. Senator Mitt Romney (R-UT), would establish. Shaheen introduced the Black Sea Security Act earlier this year. 

Shaheen shared her disappointment that all Western ships had been moved from the Black Sea prior to the invasion, and she also focused on the importance of other nations at risk for further Russian aggression, such as Georgia, which as Shaheen states, is facing a “political upheaval” that “plays right into the Russians’ hands.” Shaheen has been very engaged on U.S. policy toward Georgia. Last year, Shaheen and Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI) held a hearing on bolstering democracy in Georgia in response to the country’s political crisis. During the hearing, Shaheen and Johnson both agreed on the importance of showing bipartisan support for Georgia’s path to strengthen its democracy and committed to spearheading a resolution in the Senate that expresses that sentiment, which was approved by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Shaheen led a bipartisan congressional delegation to Eastern Europe last year, which included a stop in Georgia to reaffirm U.S. commitment to its regional partner and strengthen democratic reforms. Shaheen and Senator Jim Risch (R-ID) previously served as election monitors during Georgia’s 2012 elections.  

Read the Wall Street Journal’s story in full here. 

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