Senator Jeanne Shaheen claimed on Thursday that due to the recent adoption of a foreign influence transparency law by Georgia's ruling party, Georgian Dream, the National Democratic Institute (NDI) and the International Republican Institute (IRI) will no longer be able to continue their work in the country.

"The legislation that Senator [Mitt] Romney and I have worked on aims to develop a strategy to better support the countries of the Black Sea region. In countries like Georgia, where the population aspires to join the European Union and NATO, the government is increasingly moving towards autocracy and aligning with Russia. In response, we will impose sanctions on individuals involved in the Foreign Influence Transparency Law, which is modelled after Russian law," stated Shaheen.

She further explained, "When we spoke to non-governmental organisations in Georgia, including our National Democratic Institute and the International Republican Institute, they informed us that they cannot operate under this new law. The bill we have introduced will impose sanctions on those responsible for passing this law, including travel restrictions for their leaders. We hope this will send a very strong message to the Georgian government that their actions have consequences. This will affect the aid they receive from the US and impact diplomatic relations, which will not be beneficial for Georgia's leadership."