The Political Council of the ruling Georgian Dream party said a “policy of blackmail and intimidation” by the U.S. authorities was “in contradiction to the strategic partnership” between the two countries.
The statement was made after the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced visa restrictions for “those responsible for undermining democracy” in Georgia.
The party response claimed the potential enforcement of the restrictions against Georgian officials was a “continuation of an anti-Georgian rhetoric”.
“The policy of blackmail and intimidation against Georgia is in contradiction to our strategic partnership - not to mention the spirit of partnership in general that, ideally, was supposed to develop between the two sovereign nations”, the ruling party said.
The statement stressed the “blackmail through visa restrictions” was “nothing but a blatant attempt to restrict Georgia’s independence and sovereignty”, and further added it was “something that looks especially cynical in light of the fact that, two days from now, Georgia is celebrating its Independence Day”.
“It is an unprecedented event in the history of world politics when an official representative of one country threatens a legislator of another country just because the latter has voted in favour of a law on transparency. These events will be written in the history of world politics in grey letters”, the statement claimed.
