The sanctions come amid massive protests against the Georgian government’s decision to halt efforts to join the European Union.
The United States has imposed sanctions on Bidzina Ivanishvili, the former prime minister of Georgia and founder of the ruling Georgian Dream party, amid protests against stalled efforts to join the European Union.
In a statement on Friday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Ivanishvili and his party had undermined democratic institutions and “derailed Georgia’s Euro-Atlantic future” to Russia’s benefit.
“Ivanishvili’s actions and the Georgian Dream have eroded democratic institutions, enabled human rights violations, and restricted the exercise of fundamental freedoms in Georgia,” Blinken said.
Georgian Dream and Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze announced last month that they would suspend talks on Georgia’s accession to the European Union until 2028.
This announcement followed a decision by the European Parliament to refuse to recognize the results of the elections that took place in Georgia on 26 October, based on allegations of “major irregularities”, which Kobakhidze described as an act of “blackmail”.
The goal of joining the European Union was added to Georgia’s constitution in 2017, and demonstrators took to the streets to protest the suspension of membership efforts.
While Kobakhidze said Georgia would continue to seek EU membership with the aim of joining by 2030, protests continued in opposition to steps taken by the ruling party which critics say target civil society groups and press freedom.
The government responded to the widespread demonstrations with a harsh police crackdown.
Police also raided opposition party offices, and the prime minister rejected calls for new elections.
Human Rights Watch said earlier this week that Georgian police responded to largely peaceful protests in the capital, Tbilisi, with “brutal violence.”
The human rights organization said in a statement on December 24: “In widespread and apparently punitive actions, security forces chased, violently detained, and beat demonstrators.”
“The police also tortured and other ill-treated them in police vehicles and police stations.”
The European Union also condemned the crackdown, saying the bloc “stands with the Georgian people and their choice for a European future.”
United States on December 18 punished Several senior officials of the Georgian Ministry of Interior whom it accused of complicity in the suppression of protesters.
Meanwhile, sanctions imposed on Friday led to the freezing of Ivanishvili’s assets in the United States.
Ivanishvili and his allies in the government have repeatedly said in recent years that the billionaire is already subject to “effective sanctions” by the United States, something Washington has denied.
Georgian Dream did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Reuters on the new sanctions.
