U.S. lawmakers are reportedly poised to introduce a bill prohibiting the recognition of a Georgian Dream government less than two weeks after the party's Russia-friendly billionaire founder, Bidzina Ivanishvili, was sanctioned for undermining Georgia's democracy for the "benefit of the Russian Federation."
Fox News reported on January 8 that the bill, which has bipartisan support, would be introduced in the House of Representatives during the day.
Fox said it exclusively obtained the bill, which bars the recognition or normalization of relations "with any Government of Georgia that is led by Bidzina Ivanishvili or any proxies due to the Ivanishvili regime's ongoing crimes against the Georgian people."
"No federal official or employee may take any action, and no Federal funds may be made available, to recognize or otherwise imply, in any manner, United States recognition of Bidzina Ivanishvili or any government in Georgia," Fox quoted the bill as saying.
SEE ALSO: Two Presidents, A Country In Turmoil. What Next For Georgia?The move comes after the State Department on December 27 sanctioned Ivanishvili "for undermining the democratic and Euro-Atlantic future of Georgia."
Georgia, once a closer U.S. ally, has angered Washington and the European Union with its perceived tilt toward Russia and its violent crackdown on dissent in the Caucasus nation.
The sanctions come at a crucial time as Georgia's fate hangs in the balance -- whether it will intensify its tilt toward Moscow, return to the pro-Europe path or remain in an environment of unrest and uncertainty.
Police in Tbilisi have clashed with pro-West protesters over the past several weeks, detaining dozens and injuring scores of people who were angered by a government decision in November to halt negotiations on joining the European Union until 2028.
The political crisis erupted after Georgian Dream claimed victory in October parliamentary elections that the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) said was marred by instances of vote-buying, double-voting, physical violence, and intimidation.
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What's Next For Georgia's Presidential Crisis As Inauguration Day Nears
Georgia received EU candidate status in December 2023, but ties with Brussels have been tense in recent months following the adoption in May of a controversial "foreign agent" law pushed through parliament by Georgian Dream, which has been in power since 2012.
Georgian Dream pushed through its candidate, Mikheil Kavelashvili, a former soccer player and right-wing populist, as the country's new leader on December 29.
Salome Zurabishvili, his predecessor, continues to call herself Georgia's "only legitimate president."
She and the tens of thousands of Georgians demonstrating in the streets have pushed for new parliamentary elections as the only way out of the current crisis.
Earlier on January 8, Republican Congressman Joe Wilson, who is chairman of the Helsinki Commission and a sponsor of the new bill, released a letter signed by 43 American and European politicians calling for fresh elections.
"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," the letter reads.
"They have responded with brutality to nightly protests of hundreds of thousands of protesters. The Georgian people demand free and fair elections and we must stand with them."