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President Biden is preparing visa restrictions for officials from the country of Georgia amid a government crackdown on mass protests against the claimed victory of the Georgia Dream party, which critics say is turning the country toward Russia.
The administration is expected to issue a series of travel bans on Thursday, according to people familiar with the matter, targeting people believed to be responsible for or complicit in undermining the election process, along with their family members.
The names of those sanctioned are not normally disclosed publicly. The sanctions add to other efforts the Biden administration has made in opposition to Georgian Dream’s disputed claims of electoral victory and its violence against protesters who have been on the streets for two weeks.
Other measures the US has taken include the suspension of US-Georgia strategic partnership mechanisms in November. The administration is expected to issue a statement that it is reviewing options and planning further steps.
But Democratic and Republican lawmakers in Congress have criticized the Biden administration for moving too slowly and too cautiously in taking action against Georgia, particularly in curbing sanctions on Bidzina Ivanishvili, the billionaire founder and de facto leader of the ruling party that made his fortune in Russia.
Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.), the outgoing chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told The Hill he wants to see sanctions on Ivanishvili.
“The executive branch can act, and we hope the executive branch (will).”
Critics accuse Ivanishvili of using Russian President Vladimir Putin’s playbook to stifle dissent; enact legislation to bankrupt, intimidate and criminalize their opposition; and move the country away from integration with the European Union. Georgian Dream announced at the end of last month that it was suspending its talks to join the EU, in contravention of the country’s constitution.
“I’m very frustrated because, from my point of view, we’re not doing enough, we’re not meeting at the moment and we’re not answering that call,” Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (DN.H.), the incoming ranking member of Foreign Affairs of the Senate Committee, he said on the Senate floor Thursday afternoon.
“We have not been able to respond in a meaningful way to change the calculus of the Georgian Dream leadership. They pay no price for their actions as they defy the will of the people and take pages from Putin’s authoritarian playbook.”
Sen. Jim Risch (R-Idaho), the incoming chairman of the Foreign Relations panel, aligned himself with Shaheen’s remarks on the Senate floor.
“The ghosts of the Russian empire are still in this country (Georgia) and they appear in what is happening today. … It is brutal, it involves torture, it involves detentions, it involves all the things that we see from the former Soviet Union,” he said
“We passed a bill that allows the Biden administration to come in and impose sanctions on people … who should be sanctioned, and it’s no secret. … Let’s go. … I’m deeply disappointed that we didn’t “.
The opposition and Georgian protesters warn that time is running out. Parliamentary elections are on Saturday to choose the country’s next president, and only Georgian Dream members will vote.
The term of the acting president of Georgia, Salome Zurabishvili, ends on Monday. The last president elected directly by the people, she is at the head of the opposition to the claim of GD’s electoral victory.
“Debate in depth with Presidents Trump and (French President) Macron,” Zurabishvili posted on the X social network last week.
“He exposed the stolen election and the extremely alarming repression against the people of Georgia. He emphasized the need for a strong USA. The Georgian people have a friend in Donald Trump. God bless the United States of America.”
Updated at 3:24 PM EST
