'A Dark Day For Georgian Democracy': U.S. Pledges Travel Restrictions, Sanctions If Georgia's Foreign Agent Law ‘Goes Forward’

The United States said on Tuesday that it will apply travel restrictions and financial sanctions against individuals involved if Georgia's foreign agent law ‘goes forward’, as Assistant Secretary of State Jim O’Brien put it in Tbilisi.

"If the law goes forward out of conformity with EU norms and there’s undermining of democracy here and there’s violence against peaceful protesters, then we will see restrictions coming from the United States.  Those tend to be financial and/or travel restrictions on the individuals responsible for those actions and their families," O’Brien said in his remarks to the media following talks with Georgian officials.

Over the past week, tens of thousands of protesters have taken to the streets in Tbilisi and other cities and tried to block lawmakers from passing the legislation, dubbed a “Russia-style” foreign agent law by critics, which will brand hundreds of NGOs and media outlets as foreign agents.

The bill gained majority support from the governing Georgian Dream party. The president’s veto is expected to be overridden by a simple majority, paving the way for the legislation to go into effect in the coming weeks.

"We expect the president [of Georgia] to veto it," White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters Tuesday afternoon, TURAN's Washington correspondent reports.

She went on to elaborate, "While it is unclear whether parliament will try to override a potential veto, we have been outspoken about our concerns with the legislation, which runs counter to democratic values and would move Georgia further away from the values of the European Union and, let's not forget, also NATO. The Georgian people have been making their views known about this legislation, protesting in the streets" 

The Press Secretary concluded: "We will see the parliament -- what the parliament does.  But if this legislation passes, it will compel us to fundamentally reassess our relationship with Georgia."

A bipartisan group of senators, led by Jeanner Shahee and Jim Risch also released a statement calling yesterday “a dark day for Georgian democracy” and threatening to take action against Georgian politicians.

"This vote was cast in violation of the wishes of hundreds of thousands of Georgians who continue to peacefully protest against legislation that will not only be used to limit free speech but will hinder the advancement of democracy in Georgia. This law, which requires all organizations that receive more than 20% of their budgets from overseas to report as foreign agents, will suppress the important work of civil society in a country where funds are scarce," the Senators noted.

Vedant Patel, the State Department's principal deputy spokesperson, believes that there is "still time to work collaboratively," but it’s Washington's point of view that the Georgian Government needs to change course from the one that it’s on.  "I imagine Assistant Secretary O’Brien and others will have more to talk about about their engagements," he added.

While in Tbilisi, O’brien met with the prime minister and others. However, speaking to reporters, he also mentioned that he had reached out for conversations with all stakeholders, including Bidzina Ivanishvili, a founder of the ruling "Georgian Dream" Party.

"The [former] Prime Minister said he would not see me because we have him under de facto sanctions. There are no sanctions on him at this point.  For such an influential individual to be that badly misinformed is shocking and disappointing," O’brien said.

He concluded: "For the Prime Minister to say that that is a reason that one of Georgia’s most important partners cannot meet with this citizen is to elevate that individual interest above the country’s constitutional commitment to working more with international partners and joining the EU and NATO."