Georgia’s prime minister Irakli Kobakhidze has claimed that foreign intelligence services are financing anti-government protests in his country in the hope of staging a coup.
“Foreign agents won’t stage a revolution in Georgia, we won’t allow that,” Kobakhidze said.
Speaking at a press conference on Monday, the Georgian PM drew direct parallels between the demonstrations in Tbilisi and the 2014 Euromaidan protests in Kyiv.
“All of this is orchestrated by foreign special services,” he continued. “You remember how those protests were financed by foreign intelligence agencies, and you also recall what followed for Ukraine; today, the Ukrainian state has collapsed, and the country has endured two wars, both triggered by revolutions financed from abroad.”
Kobakhidze’s remarks come as Brussels and Western capitals increase pressure on Georgia for straying from the EU’s political line. Domestic opposition parties and Western governments have criticized the leadership in Tbilisi, while demonstrations have continued in the capital.
The tensions also spilled into diplomatic relations. On Wednesday, September 24th, German Ambassador to Georgia Peter Fischer was summoned to the Georgian Foreign Ministry in what he described as an unprecedented move.
“I have been officially summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia. A summons is a form of diplomatic sanction, which is very unusual between friendly countries. This is the first time in modern Georgian history that a German ambassador has been summoned,” Fischer said.
He explained that he would listen to the ministry’s concerns but also contest what he called “unfounded and provocative statements” against Germany, himself, and other diplomats. The envoy added that he would use the meeting to critique the Georgian government’s current direction, which he argued runs counter to the country’s stated aspirations to join the European Union.
Kobakhidze, however, offered a sharply different interpretation of the diplomatic exchange. According to the local Georgian media, he argued that summoning Fischer was in line with established international practice:
“As for the summoning of the German Ambassador, this is a diplomatic procedure applied when an Ambassador in Georgia grossly violates the principles of the Vienna Convention. In such cases, they are summoned. This is a normal diplomatic measure. If the [Ministry of Foreign Affairs] wishes, it will provide more detailed commentary,” he said.
The prime minister went further, directly accusing Fischer of political interference. “Generally, I want to remind you that Mr. [Peter] Fischer is directly engaged in the activities of the radical opposition and is openly trying to put pressure on the independent judiciary,” Kobakhidze stated.
