senator Jeanne Shaheen claimed on Thursday that the National Democratic Institute (NDI) and the International Republican Institute (IRI) would no longer be able to continue their work in the country due to the recent adoption of a foreign influence transparency law by Georgia's ruling Georgian Dream party.
“The legislation that Senator [Mitt] Romney and I have been working on goals to develop a strategy to better support the countries of the Black Sea region. In countries like Georgia, whose people aspire to join the European Union and NATO, the government is increasingly moving toward autocracy and allying itself with Russia. In response, we will impose sanctions on individuals involved in the Foreign Influence Transparency Act, which is modeled after the Russian law,” Shaheen said.
She further stated: “When we spoke to non-governmental organizations in Georgia, including our National Democratic Institute and the International Republican Institute, they told us that they cannot operate under this new law. The bill we introduced would impose sanctions on those responsible for passing this law, including travel restrictions on their leaders. We hope this will send a very clear signal to the Georgian government that their actions have consequences. This will impact the aid they receive from the United States and affect diplomatic relations, which will not be beneficial to Georgia's leadership.”
