Georgian parliament speaker calls US sanctions "direct act of aggression"

Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili has condemned the recent US sanctions targeting top officials from Georgia's Ministry of Internal Affairs, labelling them as a direct act of aggression against the country.

In a statement covered by Georgian media, Papuashvili asserted that police officers are the embodiment of the state, Caliber.Az reports.

“Therefore, any attack on a police officer is, in effect, an attack on the state itself,” he remarked.

He further emphasized that lifting these sanctions is a crucial prerequisite for any potential improvement in relations between Georgia and the United States.

On September 16, the US imposed new sanctions, including financial and travel restrictions, on senior Georgian officials and their families. These measures respond to the violent suppression of recent protests in Georgia, according to the State Department's statement.

The sanctions come amid heightened anti-Western rhetoric from the ruling Georgian Dream party and the adoption of "foreign agents’ law".

Secretary of State Anthony Blinken stated, “Today, the United States is imposing extensive sanctions on Georgian government officials for undermining democracy in Georgia and violating the rights of the Georgian people.”

The State Department is also enacting a visa ban on over 60 Georgian citizens and their families.

The sanctions specifically target Zviad Kharazishvili, head of the Special Operations Directorate, and his deputy, Mileri Lagazauri, labelling them as "complicit in serious human rights violations." 

Additionally, the sanctions include Konstantin Morgoshia and Zurab Makharadze, executives of the far-right publication Alt-Info.

Previously, the Biden administration had already imposed visa bans on members of the Georgian Dream party, parliamentarians, law enforcement officials, and others involved in the controversial law and the protests.

by Tamilla Hasanova