Kobakhidze called US sanctions against Ivanishvili rewarding

Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze on December 27 linked U.S. sanctions against the founder and honorary chairman of the ruling Georgian Dream - Democratic Georgia party, Bidzina Ivanishvili, to his defense of the country's national interests.

"Because Bidzina Ivanishvili defended and served the interests of this country (Georgia. - Ed.), he was de facto under sanctions, and now he finds himself already under formal sanctions. It is nothing special. This is just a reward for protecting the national interests of our country," he told TASS.

According to Kobakhidze, Ivanishvili, who has been blackmailed by sanctions for a long time, will have nothing to blackmail after they are imposed.

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Earlier in the day, the U.S. Treasury Department added former Georgian Prime Minister and founder of the Georgian Dream party Bidzina Ivanishvili to the anti-Russian sanctions list. Ivanishvili served as prime minister from October 2012 to November 2013.

Protests are underway in Georgia over the suspension of European integration talks and the opposition's disagreement with the results of parliamentary elections.

Western countries have reacted particularly strongly to the Georgian government's postponement of the decision to join the European Union (EU). Against this background, the U.S. State Department suspended its partnership with Georgia and began imposing sanctions, while a number of other EU countries also imposed restrictions. Prior to that, the West also did not support the Georgian law on foreign agents.

Prime Minister of Georgia Irakli Kobakhidze said that European politicians threatened the country with Maidan, but another attempt to organize a revolution failed. He also noted that the issue of EU accession was being used to blackmail Tbilisi. The Speaker of the country's Parliament Shalva Papuashvili called the United States sanctions, which are being adopted by the outgoing administration of the current American leader Joe Biden, pointless.