U.S. Congress introduces 'Georgian Nightmare Non-Recognition Act'
US bill on non-recognition of Georgian Dream
A bipartisan bill has been introduced in the U.S. Congress, prohibiting U.S. officials from recognizing the government of the Georgian Dream. The authors of the “Georgian Nightmare Non-Recognition Act” are Republican Congressman Joe Wilson and Democratic Congressman Steve Cohen.
The Congress will publish the text of the bill on its website within a few days of its registration.
As a precedent, the authors cite the “Non-Recognition of Bashar al-Assad’s Government Act,” proposed by Congressman Wilson in 2023.
It was passed by Congress in February last year with 389 votes to 32 and subsequently signed into law by President Biden.
What does the bill state?
● Recognition of the Georgian Dream government and normalization of relations with it by U.S. officials is prohibited.;
● The ban applies to the leader of the ruling party and de facto head of Georgia, Bidzina Ivanishvili, his close associates, and the Georgian Dream government as a whole;
● Any form of recognition or reference to the recognition of the Georgian Dream government, as well as the allocation of federal funds for purposes related to it, is forbidden;
● The bill recognizes Georgia‘s fifth president, Salome Zourabichvili, as the country’s sole legitimate leader.
On January 8, the Chairman of the U.S. Helsinki Commission, Republican Congressman Joe Wilson, along with 42 other politicians, formed an international group called the Friends of Georgia and addressed a joint letter to all “free and democratic governments.” In the letter, the group urged governments to “reject the illegitimate regime of Bidzina Ivanishvili and demand free and fair elections in Georgia.”
“Ivanishvili’s Georgian Dream party has chosen to ignore the legitimate concerns of the opposition and international monitors about the recent elections, seated a one-party legislature, and unilaterally elected a new president. They have responded with brutality to nightly protests of hundreds of thousands of protestors. The Georgian people demand free and fair elections and we must stand with them,” the statement reads.
