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Violent protests erupt in Georgia
Protests erupt in Georgia after the leader of pro-Putin’s “Mara” party halted EU accession talks over claims of foreign interference in the country’s situation. (Credit: AP)
How 119 congress prepares to open a session on Jan. 3, one Republican congressman is appealing to the new Trump administration to advance U.S. interests and fight foreign malicious actors.
In a letter obtained by Fox News Digital, Rep. Joe Wilson, R-South Carolina, urges secretary of state nominee Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and national security adviser nominee Michael Waltz (R-Fla.) to “prioritize the use of U.S. law enforcement to expose and dismantle Georgian sanctions evasion schemes, fraudulent call centers and other illegal Georgian dreams of enterprises”.
GEORGIA’S FORMER PRIME MINISTER SAYS the country’s elections were “rigged” and “scripted in Moscow”
The letter follows USA introduced sanctions against the former prime minister of Georgia and Russian billionaire, the de facto head of the country, Bidin Ivanishvili.
These operations, as the congressman’s letter says, allow Ivanishvili’s regime to profit from such atrocities as Russia’s aggression in Ukraine, “facilitated by the complicity of China, North Korea and Iran.”
On December 27, the US Treasury introduced sanctions against Ivanishvili for “undermining the democratic and Euro-Atlantic future of Georgia in favor of the Russian Federation.”
Representative Joe Wilson (R-SC) speaks during a press conference on the Ukraine Victory Resolution on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., April 25, 2023. (REUTERS/Julia Nihinson)
Congressman Wilson, who chairs the Helsinki Commission, calls the sanctions against Ivanishvili a “significant step forward” and calls on the incoming administration to extend sanctions to Ivanishvili’s immediate family members and loved ones:
“This is a key opportunity to advance our shared goals of protecting democracy and countering malign influence around the world. The Axis aggressors will be deprived of a significant increase in power if Georgia returns to the rule of the Georgian people,” the letter says.
Wilson’s letter is a continuation of a series of public outcries among Georgia watchers in the United States and Europe following the highly controversial victory of Georgian Dream in October’s parliamentary elections and the government’s subsequent decision to suspend the country’s accession to the European Union, leading to massive daily demonstrations across the country.
Local and international election observers, including the International Republican Institute (IRI) mission, concluded that the election was “fundamentally flawed”.
Georgian Dream party founder Bidina Ivanishvili speaks after the announcement of exit poll results for the parliamentary elections at the Georgian Dream party headquarters in Tbilisi, Georgia on October 26, 2024. (REUTERS/Irakli Gedenidze)
“Given what the IRI mission observed and what has happened since the election, only new elections can restore the Georgian people’s confidence in the legitimacy of their government,” said IRI President Dan Twining.
Despite domestic and international calls for new elections, the one-party parliament appointed the only presidential candidate, former football player and fierce critic of the West, Mikhail Kavelashvili on December 29 at an inauguration ceremony without foreign dignitaries and guests.
Georgian Dream officials have repeatedly downplayed the prospect of US sanctions. A few minutes after the statement of the Ministry of Finance, Prime Minister Irakli Kabahidze said that “actually nothing has changed”.
Kabahidze, like other party leaders, also expressed optimism about “positive changes” after President Trump will take office on January 20. However, this scenario is unlikely, according to Laura Linderman, a senior fellow at the American Council on Foreign Policy.
“Given that Trump’s national security team is likely to take an even tougher stance toward countries that support China and Iran, Georgian Dream’s apparent calculation that they will receive more favorable treatment under the Trump administration is misguided.” Linderman told Fox News Digital.
US President-elect Donald Trump looks on at Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest at the Phoenix Convention Center on December 22, 2024. in Phoenix, Arizona. (Rebecca Noble/Getty Images)
Linderman also says congressional Republicans are largely united in their support for Georgia’s democratic future, and “Trump is unlikely to waste political capital challenging the bipartisan consensus on Georgia’s Euro-Atlantic path.”
In recent years, the “Georgian Dream” government of Ivanishvilis has increasingly isolated itself from the West and joined authoritarian regimes. Georgia – until recently – a strategic partner of the United States, now formalized such a partnership with China, prefers Chinese companies to American investments, adopted Russian style the law on “foreign agents” and suspended EU accession negotiations. Only this year, Prime Minister Kabakhidze visited Iran. In Tehran, he attended the funeral of late Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and the inauguration of new President Massoud Pezeshkian, who was sworn in with chants of “Death to America, Israel.”
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Heritage Foundations senior adviser and leading foreign policy expert James Carafano tells Fox News Digital that regimes that rely on support from Moscow and Beijing will realize that “the game is over,” adding that they cannot expect a “favorable or indifferent hand” from side of the Trump administration.
“When U.S. interests are at stake, as they are in Georgia, governments that want to lean on Moscow are likely to not only get the cold shoulder from Trump, but likely to get fired,” Karafano says. .
