The United States will review its entire relationship and cooperation with Georgia after the Caucasus country’s parliament passed a controversial “foreign influence” bill that sparked widespread protests, the U.S. government announced Thursday night. US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken.

“I am starting (…) a complete review of bilateral cooperation between the US and Georgia,” Mr. Blinken said in a press release released by his Washington office, while also announcing the imposition of travel restrictions against those the US government deems that they are responsible for the “undermining of democracy” in Georgia, as well as their relatives.

“We continue to hope that Georgian leaders will review the bill and take steps to meet the country’s democratic and Euro-Atlantic aspirations,” he added.

At the same time, he warned that during “the review of relations (…) we will take into account Georgia’s actions before making decisions about ours.”

Beyond the law itself, the head of US diplomacy denounced the “repressive tactics” used to “crush any legitimate dissent, undermining democracy and fundamental freedoms” of the “Georgian people”.

The announcement comes a day after Mr. Blinken threatened Georgia with retaliatory measures for pushing the law, which he described as “straight out of Moscow’s playbook.”

Earlier yesterday, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova accused Washington of “blackmailing” Georgia.

The parliament in Tbilisi recently approved the controversial law, which requires any NGO and media outlet with more than 20% of its funding from abroad to be listed as “organisations promoting the interests of a foreign power”. and be subject to government control.

Its critics call it the “Russian law”, as it bears many similarities to legislation introduced in Russia to suppress opposition. His promotion sparked mass protests in Georgia.

Pro-EU Georgian President Salomi Zourabisvili vetoed the law, but the ruling Georgian Dream party, which drafted it, says it has enough votes in parliament to pass the bill anyway. .

Georgia, a former Soviet republic, is now officially a candidate country for membership in the European Union (as of December 2023) and has also expressed its intention to join NATO.