Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
Violent protests erupt in Georgia
Protests broke out in Georgia after the leader of Proputin’s Dream Party halted EU accession talks over allegations of foreign interference in the country. (Credit: AP)
As 119th Congress preparation for the opening session on January 3, one Republican congressman is urging the incoming Trump administration to advance US interests and target foreign malicious actors.
In a letter obtained by Fox News Digital, South Carolina Republican Rep. Joe Wilson calls on Secretary of State nominee Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and National Security Adviser nominee Rep. Michael Waltz (R-Fla.) to ” prioritize the use of US law enforcement mechanisms to expose and dismantle Georgia’s sanctions evasion schemes, fraudulent call centers and other illicit Georgian Dream businesses.”
FORMER GEORGIAN PRIME MINISTER SAYS NATIONAL ELECTIONS ‘FIXED’ AND ‘WRITTEN IN MOSCOW’
The letter comes later United States imposed sanctions on the former prime minister of Georgia and the billionaire, de facto ruler of the country, Bidzini Ivanishvili.
These operations, according to the congressman’s letter, allow Ivanishvili’s regime to profit from crimes such as Russian aggression in Ukraine, “which was fueled by the complicity of China, North Korea and Iran.”
On December 27, Ivanishvili was sanctioned by the US Treasury Department for “undermining Georgia’s democratic and Euro-Atlantic future for the benefit 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., on April 25, 2023. (REUTERS/Julia Nikhinson)
Congressman Wilson, who chairs the Helsinki Commission, calls the sanctions on Ivanishvili a “significant step forward” and calls on the incoming administration to extend sanctions to Ivanishvili’s immediate family and friends:
“This is a key opportunity to advance our shared goals of defending democracy and countering malign influence worldwide. The aggressor axes would be deprived of a significant force multiplier if Georgia were returned to the rule of the Georgian people,” the letter reads.
Wilson’s letter is the continuation of a series of public outcry among Georgia watchers in the United States and Europe following the highly contested victory of Georgian Dream in parliamentary elections in October and the government’s subsequent decision to pause its accession to the European Union, leading to massive daily protests 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 Bidzina Ivanishvili speaks after the announcement of exit poll results in 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 happened after the election, only new elections can restore the confidence of the Georgian people in the legitimacy of their government,” said IRI President Dan Twining.
Despite domestic and international calls for new elections, on December 29, the single-party parliament elected the only presidential candidate, former soccer player and staunch critic of the West, Mikheil Kavelashvili, at the inauguration ceremony, without any apparent lack of foreign dignitaries and guests.
Georgian Dream officials have consistently played down the possibility of US sanctions. A few minutes after the announcement by the Ministry of Finance, Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze asserted – “in reality, nothing has changed”.
Kobakhidze, like other party leaders, also expressed optimism about “positive changes” after President Trump he will take office on January 20. However, according to Laura Linderman, a senior fellow at the American Foreign Policy Council, this scenario is unlikely.
“Given that Trump’s national security team would likely take an even tougher stance toward countries with ties to China and Iran, Georgian Dream’s apparent calculation that they would receive more favorable treatment under the Trump administration is flawed,” Linderman told Fox News. Digital.
US President-elect Donald Trump looks on during Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest at the Phoenix Convention Center on December 22, 2024 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Rebecca Noble/Getty Images)
Linderman also says that Republicans in Congress are largely united in their support for Georgia’s democratic future and that “Trump is unlikely to spend 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 favored authoritarian regimes. Georgia – until recently – a strategic partner of the USA has now formalized such a partnership with China, has given preference to Chinese companies over American investments, adopted Russian style the “foreign agent” law, and the suspended EU accession negotiations. This year alone, Prime Minister Kobakhidze visited Iran several times. In Tehran, he attended both – the funeral of the late Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and the inauguration of the new President Masoud Pezeshkian, who was sworn in with cries of “Death to America, Israel”
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
Heritage Foundations senior adviser and leading foreign policy expert James Carafano tells Fox News Digital that regimes that rely on the support of Moscow and Beijing will find that “game time is over,” adding that they cannot expect “favor or an indifferent hand” by the Trump administration.
“If American interests are at stake, and they are in Georgia, governments that want to rely on Moscow are likely to not only get chills from Trump, but also shoulder pads,” says Carafano.
