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Georgia will not support the new round of European Union sanctions against Iran, Interpressnews reported, citing Economy Minister Kakha Kaladze. According to Kaladze, Georgia’s international political actions are guided by its national interests.
Georgia declined to impose sanctions on Iran, Interpressnews reported. Economic and other strategic interests of Georgia were behind the decision, Georgian government officials explained. They, however, did not elaborate on what interests they had referred to.
Georgia’s refusal to fall into line with the European Union over sanctions against Iran is all the more notable because Tbilisi holds EU candidate status and has been attempting to make progress along the accession track for the past two years. In refusing to implement foreign policy in line with that of the EU over Iran, the Georgian government is behaving in a manner that is unusual for a candidate country.
It remains to be seen whether the US will pressure Tbilisi over the decision, but for now Georgia’s refusal to support EU sanctions over Iran will serve as another example of how small and medium-sized countries are refusing to sacrifice their interests to the dictates of great powers.
Iran’s trade partners, including China, Russia and some of the countries from the Central Asian and the Caucasus regions, are resisting the sanctions, either partially or entirely. As a result, a shadow tanker fleet of Iranian vessels is reportedly continuing to trade while exploiting the gaps in the enforcement perimeter around the sanctions. In independent assessments, these cracks in the sanctions’ solidarity are identified as the major vulnerability of any long-term economic coercion campaign against Iran.
For now, the Tbilisi decision serves as a rebuke to Brussels — a reminder to the post-Soviet world that it is foreign policy conducted in the name of national sovereignty, not bloc loyalty, that counts.
