To prevent Georgia going down Putin’s path, sanction the country’s Russian puppets

Georgian billionaire and former prime minister Bidzina Ivanishvili – the powerhouse behind the ruling Georgian Dream party – has effectively declared war on US and European aid. Georgian civil society officials in speeches on Monday. Western governments should be appalled and respond in no uncertain terms.

The government’s illiberal behavior has been accumulating for many years, and the trigger is More than 100,000 Georgians take part in protests It was the “Foreign Influence Transparency Act” proposed by the ruling party. Similar to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s infamous law, it would force non-governmental organizations receiving aid from Europe or the United States to declare themselves agents of a foreign state.

In a recent opinion poll Almost 80 percent of Georgians Despite supporting EU and NATO membership, the Georgian government has gone in the opposite direction, borrowing rhetoric and legislative tools essentially copy-pasted from Putin’s Russia. Western countries must stand with 80% of Georgians and sanction those who lead the country in the wrong direction.

Ivanishvili vowed to destroy the opposition and prosecute his critics. speech In response to the protests, it abandoned all pretense of building a pluralistic, Western-oriented system. Ivanishvili served as prime minister more than a decade ago and continued in the role for a year after the 2012 election.

“In recent years, we have accumulated enough resources to begin to fully consolidate our sovereignty,” Ivanishvili said. “This is exactly the role of the Foreign Influence Transparency Act. And after the election, we will give the National Movement Group, which spent nine years of bloody rule and 12 years, the harsh political and legal justice it deserves. You’ll get a chance to put it down. [in opposition] In the role of “disastrous supervisor”.

Ivanishvili blamed the West (the “World War Party”). He accused the country of funding “pseudo-elites” who “hate Georgia” and “have no homeland” with the aim of restoring an “inhuman and cruel dictatorship.” Georgian Dream officials launched an unprecedented rhetorical attack against various US and EU ambassadors. The failure of the capital to support diplomats based in Tbilisi is painful to watch. President Putin must have been proud.

In December of last year, European Union provided Georgia with candidacy status, steps to final membership. Mr. Ivanishvili was really rooting for the EU to reject Georgia’s candidacy so that Europe could blame Georgia for leaving it with no choice but to pander to Moscow.

Immediately after the EU decision, he announced his return to Georgian politics, even though he had not actually left the EU. He replaced the prime minister and promoted Irakli Kobakhidze, whose main task is to carry out Ivanishvili’s orders.Georgian Dream MP at the time launched a mean-spirited campaign against the LGBTQ+ communityagain borrowing the Kremlin’s strategy before proposing the unpopular Foreign Influence Transparency Act.

For Ivanishvili in the West and the defenders of the Georgian dream, there is no more pretense. Ivanishvili, who spent years holed up in his Bond villain’s palace in Tbilisi, said he takes personal responsibility for what happens next, adding: “As a matter of principle and dedication, I personally support the sovereignty of Georgia.” We will continue to fight for a full recovery.” he declared on Monday. He made it easy to identify the culprit in cases with serious consequences.

Western governments have no time to waste if they seek to block NGO legislation. In addition to targeting Mr. Ivanishvili and Mr. Kobakhidze, the EU and the United States should warn all Georgian parliamentarians that voting on the NGO law will lead to sanctions against them.

The United States has provided Georgia with more than just that. $6 billion in support Although it has had great influence in the country for the past 30 years, it has been largely unable to exercise that influence in recent years. Preoccupied with the situation in Ukraine and more recently in the Middle East, the United States has paid little attention to what is happening in Georgia, and the lack of backlash against actions such as Putin’s has brought the situation to a critical point. This is one of the reasons why we achieved this goal. President George W. Bush was the only president to visit Georgia, and the country continues to be of great interest to the Bush Institute, including partnering at an annual conference.

A harsh statement from State Department and united states congress Opinions about anti-NGO laws have been helpful, Georgian Dream has heard a lot about them, but none of them deters us. Words must be followed by actions. Western governments have been too passive for too long as the Georgian Dream has moved the country in an undemocratic direction and closer to Russia.

Real costs must be imposed. The United States and the European Union should immediately impose sanctions on those responsible for using intimidation and violence against those who want Georgia to join the democratic West. They should start with the oligarch Ivanishvili, who has seized the reins of all power and is trying to thwart the aspirations of the Georgian people. Doing so may be the only way to stop the country’s rapid slide into an authoritarian regime modeled on Putin’s Russia.

Mr. Ivanishvili has given a bold response to the West. And you must respond immediately. Not after the question was asked, “Who lost Georgia?”

David J. Kramer is Executive Director of the George W. Bush Institute and former U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor. Ian Kelly is a former U.S. Ambassador to Georgia and Ambassador to Northwestern University.