Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken participated in a conversation on U.S. foreign policy at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C., covering several areas.
Asked about Georgia’s Law on Transparency of Foreign Influence, Blinken said, “We have both concerns and also real opportunities. We and many other countries not only expressed our deep concerns about it [the law], especially its passage. We have taken an action to manifest those concerns and I think you are likely to see more of that. I think it is clearly antithetical to the European direction that Georgia wants to take and that clearly the majority of Georgia people want to take.”
In response to the adoption of the "Foreign Influence Transparency" law by the Parliament of Georgia, the US State Department announced the first tranche of visa restrictions, which includes members of "Georgian Dream", members of parliament, law enforcement and private individuals. According to US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller, the restrictions will also apply to their family members. In addition, the spokesperson of the State Department noted that the first tranche of visa restrictions covers 24 to 36 persons.
