The US State Department has imposed sanctions on former Georgian Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili, considered by many to be the country's most powerful man, Reuters and Agence France-Presse reported, citing a statement by Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, BTA reported.
Blinken accused Ivanishvili of "undermining Georgia's democratic and Euro-Atlantic future in favor of the Russian Federation".
The actions of Ivanishvili, who holds no official political office, as well as those of the ruling "Georgian Dream" party, of which he is the founder, "weaken democratic institutions, enable human rights violations, and alter the exercise of freedoms in Georgia," Blinken noted in a statement, strongly condemning "harsh "repression" by the party against the pro-European demonstrations that have rocked the country in recent weeks.