The U.S. State Department has today imposed sanctions on Bidzina Ivanishvili, a billionaire and the founder of Georgia’s ruling party, the Georgian Dream, against which massive protests have been ongoing for weeks. The protests stem from the government’s decision to freeze the country’s EU accession process, as reported by AFP.
According to the State Department, Ivanishvili “undermines Georgia’s democratic future in favor of Russia,” the country where he amassed his wealth and which is under Western sanctions due to its invasion of Ukraine.
In an explanation, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated that the actions of Ivanišvili, who holds no official political position, and the ruling Georgian Dream party “have weakened democratic institutions, enabled human rights violations, and undermined the realization of basic freedoms in Georgia.”
Blinken also condemned the “repression” of demonstrators carried out by the Georgian government, which is under the control of the Georgian Dream party.
This former Soviet republic borders Russia, with which it fought a brief war in 2008 after Russia attempted to regain control of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, two separatist regions with Russian populations. Moscow later recognized these regions as independent states.
When the Georgian Dream party came to power, it advocated for European integration, and last year Georgia became an EU membership candidate. However, despite overwhelming public opposition and mass protests, the government passed a series of restrictive laws modeled on those in Russia, leading Brussels to effectively freeze Georgia’s EU accession process.
In the recent elections, the increasingly authoritarian Georgian Dream won, but both the opposition and international observers contested the results and the electoral process. Subsequently, the party decided to suspend the EU accession process for four years.
As a result of the election outcome and the ruling party’s decision, protests have been ongoing in the country since November.
