Ruling party says US “policy of blackmail, intimidation” “in contradiction” with strategic partnership

The Political Council of the ruling Georgian Dream party on Friday said a “policy of blackmail and intimidation” by the United States authorities was “in contradiction to the strategic partnership” between the two countries, after the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday announced visa restrictions for “those responsible for undermining democracy” in Georgia.

The party response claimed the potential enforcement of the restrictions against Georgian officials - which Blinken announced following the adoption of the law on transparency of foreign influence by the Georgian Parliament - was a “continuation of an anti-Georgian rhetoric”.

“The possible enforcement of restrictions announced on behalf of the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken against representatives of Georgia’s authorities is a continuation of the anti-Georgian rhetoric we have been hearing since 2012, especially clearly in 2021-2022”, it said.

The policy of blackmail and intimidation against Georgia is in contradiction to our strategic partnership - not to mention the spirit of partnership in general that, ideally, was supposed to develop between the two sovereign nations”, the ruling party added.

The statement stressed the “blackmail through visa restrictions” was “nothing but a blatant attempt to restrict Georgia’s independence and sovereignty”, and further added it was “something that looks especially cynical in light of the fact that, two days from now, Georgia is celebrating its Independence Day”.

“It is an unprecedented event in the history of world politics when an official representative of one country threatens a legislator of another country just because the latter has voted in favour of a law on transparency. These events will be written in the history of world politics in grey letters”, the statement claimed.

Not to mention the fact no-one has so far produced a single argument against the law on transparency of foreign influence, to say nothing of the fact that similar laws - though far stricter - are in force in the US itself, as well as France and many other countries that the US has imposed no sanctions on whatsoever”, it continued.

“Besides, a similar bill is actively considered by the European Union as well. Better still, the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen has stated that the law initiated by the EU will serve as the core line of her election campaign, because foreign influences and interference are key challenges facing Europe”, GD said.

The party also stressed application of sanctions to family members of individuals - including underage children - was a form of sanctions “not only decisively rejected by Europe since the 1940s, but also out of use even in the Soviet Union since the 1960s”.

However, after [certain] forces, through one of European commissioners, cited the example of [a recent assault on] the President of Slovakia in a conversation with the Prime Minister of Georgia - in this way blackmailing and threatening Georgia’s senior officials with physical elimination - talks of visa restrictions are no longer unexpected or surprising”, the ruling party also alleged.

Also, allow us to remind you that, a few months ago, similar visa restrictions - without any substantiation or facts - were imposed on behalf of Blinken on Georgian judges. Later, however, a cynical statement followed, claiming that no facts were intended to be provided, and that we had to investigate the subject matter on our own”, the release added.

“Despite the visa restrictions, the judiciary system continues its streamlined operation, and this decision has had no impact whatsoever on the independence of Georgia's judiciary. Better still, the Strasbourg Court has repeatedly confirmed thereafter that the Georgian judiciary is making fair decisions in serving justice”, it noted.

The party also noted senior officials of two EU candidate countries - Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina - had been sanctioned by the United States before the states continued the process of their respective integration into the EU, “encountering no obstacles in this regard”.

The ruling party reiterated that “we do not intend to trade on our country’s sovereignty and security, and no blackmail whatsoever can force us to go against our country”.

The statement stressed that sanctions were “only counterproductive and harm only the sanctioning party”, and further urged the US partners to “exercise pragmatism and take effective steps toward upgrading relations”, something it said served the “interests of both the Georgian and American people”.