UNM chair Bokuchava urges UK to step up sanctions on Ivanishvili, allies

Tina Bokuchava, chair of Georgia’s United National Movement opposition party, has urged the United Kingdom to expand and accelerate sanctions against Bidzina Ivanishvili and his close associates, saying such measures are essential to safeguard Georgia’s democratic and Euro-Atlantic course.

Speaking after a meeting at the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office this week, the UNM leader stressed that Britain’s role was particularly important because of the former prime minister’s “significant assets in the UK and offshore territories.”

Bokuchava said sanctions should not only target Ivanishvili personally but also extend to his financial networks, political elite and media allies.

She also underlined the importance of coordinated action through the Weimar Plus format - involving the UK, Germany, Poland and France - to increase pressure on what she described as Georgia’s “authoritarian regime.”

“This cooperation is vital to give Georgian citizens the chance to return to the path of democratic and Euro-Atlantic development,” she said.