Georgia’s ruling party lawmakers and law enforcement officials, as well as possible Russian agents in the country, could be targeted for sanctions, according to a draft bill prepared in the US and analysed by Politico.
Officials responsible for advancing Georgia’s Russian-style ‘foreign agents’ law could face asset freezes and travel bans under a new bill to be submitted to the US Congress.
The draft bill warns that the ruling Georgian Dream party is “increasingly and regrettably adopting a policy of compromise with the Russian Federation” and that this is part of an “increasingly illiberal turn”. Tbilisi has “openly attacked the United States and other Western democracy-promoting organisations, as well as local and international civil society, while embracing growing ties with Russia and China in particular”, the resolution states.
Under the bill, senior US officials would be obliged to provide Congress with information on “improper nodes of political influence, kleptocracy and elite corruption in Georgia” and on Russian and Chinese intelligence assets suspected of operating in the South Caucasus country.
This will be done as part of the US effort to ‘protect and safeguard democracy’.
US Treasury Department’s new sanctions list against Russia includes companies from Turkey
