U.S. To Hit Georgian Dream Officials With New Sanctions 'In Coming Weeks': State Dept

The United States said Monday it was 'preparing' to impose sanctions against Georgia's current rulers over concerns of democratic backsliding, TURAN's U.S. correspondent reports.

Washington last week imposed 20 new visa restrictions on individuals affiliated with the Georgian government who have been responsible for undermining democracy in the country, where pro-Western demonstrations are about to enter its fourth week, despite forceful crackdown.

"We’re not done...  We have other sanctions that we are preparing to unfold in the coming weeks," State Department's Spokesperson Matthew Miller tol a daily briefing when responding to TURAN's questions.

"We have been greatly concerned about the state of Georgian democracy, the actions that Georgia Dream has taken to undermine Georgia democracy", he added.

The spokesperson refrained from detailing upcoming sanctions, however, when pressed, he went on to explain that these "are not things in many cases that you can do overnight. You have to make sure you get the letter of the law right when you roll out these sanctions, and that’s what we’re working on doing even as we speak."

Miller's comments came as the EU on Monday moved to impose visa restrictions on Georgian diplomats and government officials over the police crackdown on protesters demanding a rerun of October’s contested election.

Former soccer player Mikheil Kavelashvili was appointed as Georgia’s President on Saturday as the Georgian Dream party tightened its grip on power in the election that's widely believed was rigged with Moscow’s help.