Joe Wilson Urges Sanctions Against Ivanishvili’s Immediate Family and Cronies, “Dismantling of Sanction Evasion Schemes” - The South Caucasus News

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In a letter dated December 30, 2024 addressed to the Secretary of State Nominee Marco Rubio and National Security Advisor Nominee Representative Michel Waltz, Chairman of the Helsinki Commission, Representative Joe Wilson urges them to extend sanctions already imposed on Bidzina Ivanishvili to his immediate family members and cronies as well as to dismantle “the Georgian sanctions evasion schemes.”

Joe Wilson urges the high posts nominees “to prioritize U.S. law enforcement mechanisms to expose and dismantle Georgian sanctions evasion schemes, scam call centers, and other illicit Georgian Dream enterprises.” Joe Wilson further stresses that these operations “sustain Ivanishvili’s regime and enable its corrupt cadres to profit from atrocities such as Russia’s aggression in Ukraine, which is abetted by Chinese, North Korean, and Iranian complicity.”

Wilson notes that the imposition of sanctions on Bidzina Ivanishvili, has been a significant step forward as “these measures strike at the heart of the de-facto Georgian government’s misleading narrative that its alignments with pro-Chinese, Iranian and Russian interests would find acceptance under President-elect Trumps’ leadership, or under any U.S. administration.”

Extending sanctions, he argues, would be a decisive U.S. action, which done in coordination with allies, “could render these operations untenable, directly undermining the Georgian regimes, ability to maintain its undemocratic grip on power.

The Helsinki Commission Chair states that this is “a key opportunity to advance our shared goals of defending democracy and countering malign influence worldwide” and stresses that “Axis of Aggressors would be deprived of a significant force multiplier should Georgia return to rule by the Georgian people.

U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) has been an active proponent of sanctions of those Georgian officials and individuals who undermine Georgian democracy. He introduced the ‘‘Mobilizing and Enhancing Georgia’s Options for Building Accountability, Resilience, and Independence Act’’ or ‘‘MEGOBARI Act’’ [Megobari (მეგობარი) means “Friend” in Georgian] in the United States House of Representatives. MEGOBARI Act envisages sanctions against Georgian officials responsible for undermining Georgia’s democracy and tasks relevant U.S. government agencies to report to Congress about the improper influence and sanctions evasion, as well as the Russian intelligence assets in Georgia.

Ivanishvili was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury on December 27th, for “undermining the democratic and Euro-Atlantic future of Georgia for the benefit of the Russian federation”.

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