Baltic countries sanction Georgian officials after violence against protestors

Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania imposed sanctions on Georgia’s ruling officials following the violent crackdown on anti-government protesters in Tbilisi.

Oligarch Bidzina Ivanishvili is included on the list alongside 10 other individuals, among them Interior Minister Vakhtang Gomelauri and his deputies. They are now banned from entering the three Baltic nations, Estonia’s foreign ministry announced Monday.

The measures were taken against the individuals in response to “their participation in serious human rights violations by aggressively suppressing legitimate protests in Georgia,” the statement said.

“The Georgian people should be able to stand up for their rights because their ruling party has been systematically lying to Georgians for a long time, and people have the right to express their feelings through protests. Violence against protesters is disproportionate and against human rights,” said Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna in a statement.

New EU top diplomat Kaja Kallas said on Sunday that the country’s democratic backsliding “will have direct consequences from [the] EU side.”

Thousands of protesters have been demonstrating in front of the Georgian parliament demanding the government resign after Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze announced on Nov. 28 that Georgia would suspend the process of EU accession until 2028.

Kobakhidze said it was “categorically unacceptable to view EU integration as an act of mercy,” and that the country would recommence its bid in 2028 “with dignity, rather than by begging.”

Since then, riot police have dispersed protesters with tear gas and water cannon for four consecutive nights. Many journalists reported being targeted by police, who beat them and damaged their equipment. Dozens of protesters were brutally beaten, and more than 200 people were arrested. Georgia’s Ombudsman has stated that 80 percent of those arrested reported violence and inhumane treatment by the police.

The most unbelievable and hard video of the night and the true face of the Georgian police ???? they look likes terrorist than police #Georgia #Tbilisi #protest pic.twitter.com/bPaTUqUfQM— Samira Bayramova ???????? ???????? ???????? (@SamBayramova) November 30, 2024

Prior to Kobakhidze’s suspension of the country’s EU bid, Brussels had already said Georgia’s accession was halted because the country “has gone backwards.”

The criticism largely concerned the adoption of a controversial Russian-style law on “foreign agents” in May (the legislation is widely regarded as a tool for silencing civil society) and the recent parliamentary elections, which international observers declared were not “free and fair.”

When Kobakhidze announced he was suspending Georgia’s EU bid on Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said he had been surprised by the courage of Georgian officials in defending their position on the foreign agent law.

On Nov. 30, the U.S. government announced it had suspended its strategic partnership with Georgia due to the ruling Georgian Dream party’s “various anti-democratic actions.”