Sanctioning One Billionaire Might Just Save Georgia From Putin
The US and EU have a chance to keep Georgia from getting dragged into Putin’s orbit.
A protester holds a banner depicting Russian president Vladimir Putin and Georgian businessman and former Prime Minister, Bidzina Ivanishvili in Tbilisi last month.
Photographer: VANO SHLAMOV/AFPGeorgia is having its “Maidan moment.” With parallels to Ukraine mounting fast, the question for the US and Europe is how to respond; for the protesters, it’s whether they should also have a “Yanukovych moment,” in which they try to topple the government. The answer to the first question is complicated, but for the second it’s simple: No.
As in Kyiv during the winter of 2013-2014, huge crowds have been taking to the streets of the Georgian capital Tbilisi. The immediate cause of the protests is a foreign-agent law that the ruling Georgian Dream party has introduced to parliament, championed by its leader and bankroller, the multibillionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili.