TBILISI, Dec 14 (Reuters) - Georgian lawmakers elected Mikheil Kavelashvili, a hardline critic of the West, as president on Saturday, setting him up to replace a pro-Western incumbent amid major protests against the government over a halt to the country’s European Union accession talks last month.

The U.S. has frozen the assets of three men from Uzbekistan and one from the Republic of Georgia over their alleged ties to ISS and a human smuggling network. The move comes two days after eight people with suspected ties to the terrorist organization were arrested in New York, Philadelphia and Los Angeles.

The Treasury Dept. identifies the four as: Adam Khamirzaev, a native of the Republic of Georgia, and three men from Uzbekistan: Muhammadyusuf Alisher Ogli Mirzoev, Muhammad Ibrohimjon Niyazov and Olimkhon Makhmudjon Ugli Ismailov.

On April 17, a column of Russian tanks and trucks passed through a series of dusty Azerbaijani towns as they drove away from Nagorno-Karabakh, the highland territory at the heart of the South Caucasus that Azerbaijan and Armenia had fought over for more than three decades. Since 2020, Russian peacekeepers had maintained a presence there. Now, the Russian flag that flew over the region’s military base was being hauled down.

Despite weeks of widespread protests and international condemnation, Georgia is set to pass a law on Tuesday that would designate Western NGOs as “foreign agents” — likely incurring U.S. sanctions and destroying Tbilisi’s hopes of joining the EU.

As lawmakers prepare to cast their votes and demonstrators gather outside the parliament building, what happens next could decide the future of the South Caucasus country for years to come.

Officials responsible for pushing forward Georgia’s Russian-style “foreign agents” law could face asset freezes and travel bans under a new bill to be presented to the U.S. Congress.

About 50,000 opponents of a “foreign agents” bill marched peacefully in heavy rain through the Georgian capital on Saturday, after the United States said the country had to choose between the “Kremlin-style” law and the people’s Euro-Atlantic aspirations.

“We are deeply alarmed about democratic backsliding in Georgia,” White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan wrote on X.

Last week, my husband and I awoke to messages from my stepson about how he was tear-gassed by riot police during protests in Tbilisi, Georgia.

He, and many others, have been in the streets every night for two weeks, peacefully expressing their opposition to a new foreign agents law being crammed through parliament by the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party, as opposition MPs have been forced out of the committee considering the draft.

After spending his days making wine in the foothills of the Caucasus Mountains, Tsotne Jafaridze returns home to Tbilisi, Georgia’s capital, and begins his new routine. He packs goggles, a gas mask and enough water and snacks to last several hours. He has another long night ahead.