Politico reports that the United States is contemplating a comprehensive package of economic and security support for Georgia. However, this support is contingent on the Georgian government abandoning its increasingly anti-Western rhetoric and improving its human rights record.
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The bill introduced to Congress this week by South Carolina Republican Congressman Joe Wilson, House Foreign Affairs Committee member and Helsinki Commission chairman, is called the MEGOBARI Act (Mobilizing and Enhancing Georgia’s Options for Building Accountability, Resilience, and Independence Act).
“We stand with the Georgian people,” the Helsinki Commission wrote on the X social network.
Under the terms of the bill, the US will initiate negotiations to establish "a robust preferential trade regime" with Georgia if the country meets key political criteria.
In addition to improving access to American markets, the bill includes provisions for liberalizing the visa regime for Georgian citizens.
It also instructs officials to devise a military support package for Georgia, including the “provision of security and defense equipment ideally suited for territorial defense against Russian aggression and concomitant training, maintenance, and operations support elements.”
However, the program would only be activated if the U.S. confirms that “Georgia has shown significant and sustained progress towards reinvigorating its democracy, evidenced at minimum by substantially fair and free elections and a balanced pre-election environment.”
In response to the current events in Georgia, Joe Wilson will introduce a second draft law, which proposes imposing sanctions against Georgian government officials and other individuals who “have material responsibility for undermining or injuring democracy, human rights, or security in Georgia.” According to Politico, the bill includes imposing a visa ban on politicians and their families responsible for passing the "Russian-style Foreign Agents Act." Employees of law enforcement agencies and security services will also be targeted for sanctions.
