In a statement issued today, Georgian Dream political council reacted to the tabling of a bill by South Carolina Republican Congressman and Co-Chair of the House of Representatives’ Helsinki Commission Joe Wilson proposing both sanctions for the GD officials but also hefty incentives should Georgia reverse the current anti-Western and anti-democratic course.
While downplaying the probability of the bill - dubbed as the Mobilizing and Enhancing Georgia’s Options for Building Accountability, Resilience, and Independence – or MEGOBARI – eventual adoption, GD lashed out at the US accusing it of “blackmail” and said the responsibility for fixing the US-Georgian relations rested squarely on Washington.
“In light of the foregoing, upgrading the Georgia-US relations is totally up to the correct actions of the American side. And this calls for showing respect for the Georgian state and the Georgian people instead of making promises with more than ambiguous prospects and turning to insulting blackmail, the statement said.
“Unfortunately, some American politicians and officials continue making mistake after mistake and employ the language of blackmail in communication with Georgia.
The Government of Georgia does not play games. We are adopting the law on the transparency of NGOs because we see no other way to pacify the country […] For us, this law is not an object of trade but an effective means to defend Georgia’s sovereignty, and we cannot, under any circumstances, trade on the country’s sovereignty, nor can we leave unfair attacks on Georgia unanswered.
If NGOs persist in their revolutionary attempts, assaulting the Orthodox Christian Church, supporting religious extremism, encouraging political intervention and playing the religious card to this end, also engaging in LGBT and narcotics propaganda, seeking to shake state institutions, and creating obstacles for economic projects—while some American politicians and officials continue their attacks against Georgia—we will need the law on transparency, and we will be forced to retaliate,” the statement added.
It was earlier reported that draft bill is to be introduced in Congress by South Carolina Republican Congressman Joe Wilson the US would start talks with Georgia open “a robust preferential trade regime,” if GD reverses its anti-Western course and halts democratic backsliding.
The bill also includes a sanctions package, including visa bans for politicians and their family members responsible for passage of the “the recent Russia-style foreign agent legislation.” The sanctions would also target Georgian law enforcement and the security services, who have clamped down on protests against the foreign agent bill.
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