Pro-Kremlin Russian foundation offers internships for Georgian youth
Russian internship for Georgians
The Gorchakov Public Diplomacy Support Fund, affiliated with Russia’s foreign ministry, is inviting young people from Georgia to take part in a free internship programme in Russia.
The announcement, in Georgian and Russian, was published on 12 August by the Russian Federation’s Interests Section at the Swiss embassy in Georgia.
According to the notice, the programme covers three fields: medicine, nuclear technology and international relations.
Organisers say it offers Georgian youth the chance to gain practical experience and build international professional contacts. All travel and accommodation costs will be covered, and participants will also receive a stipend.
This is not the Gorchakov Fund’s first attempt to influence Georgian youth in various ways.
In 2018, a “Young Leaders Forum” was planned in Tbilisi by the Union of Russian Youth of Georgia, but the event was cancelled. Organisers said the decision was due to “unprovoked aggression from certain individuals and media outlets.”
The Gorchakov Fund was established in 2010 by Russia’s foreign ministry at the initiative of then-president Dmitry Medvedev.
On its website, the fund says its goal is to “promote the formation of a public, political and business climate abroad that is favourable to Russia” – in other words, the spread of so-called “soft power” as a tool of influence in other countries.
The Georgian-Russian Yevgeny Primakov Public Centre, founded in 2013, is also a creation of the Gorchakov Fund.
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