Michael Carpenter, Special Assistant to the President of the United States and Head of the European Department of the White House National Security Council, stated that the actions of the Georgian Dream government are unacceptable. He emphasized that if the government continues to undermine civil society and implement the Foreign Agents law, and if the elections are not free and fair, the U.S. will impose additional sanctions.
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Carpenter made this statement at the Warsaw Security Forum in response to a question from MP Khatia Dekanoidze, a member of the Unity-National Movement. Dekanoidze asked whether the Biden administration is considering "active measures" against Bidzina Ivanishvili, "who is really grabbing the will of the Georgian people," before the elections.
"What the Georgian Dream government is doing right now is taking Georgia 180 degrees away from Euro-Atlantic integration.
If they continue with this path of undermining civil society, transgressing fundamental freedoms, implementing the Foreign Agents law and if the elections are not free and fair, the will not be entering NATO or the EU anytime soon and we will continue to adopt measures like the ones we have with our visa policy and our Global Magnitsky sanctions that impose consequences on those who violate democratic norms.
There cannot be this degree of gap between the aspirations of the Georgian people for the Euro-Atlantic future and what the government is currently doing. I want to be absolutely clear about it – it is unacceptable what we see on the ground," Carpenter said.
After the ruling party of Georgia adopted the Russian Law on so-called agents, which restricts civil society and independent media, Georgia's process of joining the European Union was halted. At the end of May, the U.S. began a "comprehensive review" of cooperation with Georgia and introduced a new visa restriction policy. Visa sanctions were imposed on more than 90 Georgian citizens, including MPs who supported the Russian law and individuals involved in spreading disinformation. Additionally, the Treasury Department sanctioned and placed two current senior government officials and two leaders of the pro-Russian violent group Alt-Info on the Magnitsky List. Based on information from Voice of America, the U.S. has developed sanctions against Bidzina Ivanishvili, the honorary chairman of Georgian Dream and former Prime Minister of Georgia.
