How the US plans to punish Georgia’s ruling party and why it matters
On 6 May, Georgia celebrated St. George’s Day. It is a religious holiday that Georgian Orthodox believers observe with deep faith and reverence.
Moreover, this day holds special significance in Georgia’s recent political history.
On 6 May, 2004, the regime of Aslan Abashidze, the dictator of the Autonomous Republic of Adjara, collapsed. He fled to Moscow where he remains to this day. On another St. George’s Day, on 23 November, Georgia experienced the 2003 Rose Revolution, which toppled the corrupt government of Eduard Shevardnadze.
This year, on St. George’s Day, the Georgian people witnessed another extremely significant event: the US House of Representatives passed the so-called MEGOBARI Act.
Read more about this bill and its implications for Georgia’s government in the article by Amiran Khevtsuriani, professor at the Georgian Technical University, and Yurii Panchenko, European Pravda's editor: A strike from Washington: what the US Congress’s approval of the Georgia support bill will change.
MEGOBARI Act is an English-language acronym for Mobilizing and Enhancing Georgia’s Options for Building Accountability, Resilience, and Independence, which conveniently spells out the Georgian word for "friend."
Talks about this symbolically named bill first began a year ago, right after the Georgian government started pushing the "foreign agents" law, thereby launching a demonstrative shift away from its pro-Western course.
The ruling Georgian Dream party did everything possible to argue that despite the bill being authored by Republican Congressman Joe Wilson, it had nothing to do with the agenda of presidential election frontrunner Donald Trump.
But the passage of the MEGOBARI Act effectively shatters any hopes for a quick reset in relations with the United States.
The bill has a very high chance of becoming law. Bipartisan support in the House shows that the US President has no fundamental objections to the initiative.
Moreover, it is reasonable to expect that the legislative process may be completed by the end of May.
In Georgian Dream circles, the bill has been sarcastically renamed – the party’s representatives often refer to it as the Act of Hostility.
Their irritation is understandable, as the MEGOBARI Act not only initiates a full review of US-Georgia relations, including all aid programmes, but also envisions broad sanctions.
The sanctions would target individuals involved in "significant corruption" as well as those responsible for violence and intimidation aimed at blocking Euro-Atlantic integration. It would also apply to those undermining Georgia’s sovereignty, stability and security.
Georgian Dream justifiably fears that the sanctions list could include all of its current and former MPs (since the law covers actions from 2014 onward) who have voted for anti-democratic initiatives.
A large portion of the government, especially its security bloc, may also come under US sanctions.
And, of course, if the MEGOBARI Act is passed, the founder of Georgian Dream and de facto leader of the country, Bidzina Ivanishvili, will inevitably be sanctioned.
Given the US’s firm stance, it will also be easier for the European Union to adopt its own sanctions against Georgian Dream.
Not to mention that this long-awaited support may breathe new life into the protest movement. This could fundamentally shift the balance of power in Georgia.