Intelligence Online: France withdraws two intelligence officers from Georgia

France has withdrawn two intelligence officers from Georgia after a counterintelligence operation in Tbilisi heightened tensions between the two countries, according to the French publication Intelligence Online.

The outlet reports that the decision is linked to an operation carried out by Georgia’s State Security Service. During that operation, authorities arrested Giorgi Udzilauri, a former senior financial police official whom the publication describes as a “former associate” of Bidzina Ivanishvili, the founder of the ruling Georgian Dream party.

According to the report, the Georgian authorities chose not to declare the French intelligence officers persona non grata in order to avoid a further deterioration in diplomatic relations.

Instead, Intelligence Online says, Tbilisi requested that Paris recall the officers. The publication adds that Georgian officials warned they would disclose the officers’ personal details if France failed to comply with the request.

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Background

Giorgi Udzilauri, who headed one of the departments within the Investigative Service of Georgia’s Ministry of Finance, was arrested by the State Security Service on 5 May 2026.

According to the Prosecutor’s Office, an investigation conducted by the SSG’s Counterintelligence Department found that Udzilauri had systematically collected and transmitted various types of information on behalf of a foreign intelligence service in exchange for financial gain, thereby harming Georgia’s interests.

Prosecutors charged him under Part 1 of Article 314 of Georgia’s Criminal Code — espionage — which carries a prison sentence of up to 12 years.

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After the arrest, Georgia’s State Security Service did not specify which country Udzilauri had allegedly spied for. However, comments by government officials suggested that the case involved the transfer of information in the interests of a European state.

On 8 May, Mamuka Mdinaradze called on the State Security Service to release materials that, in his words, show “how a specific individual receives instructions, how money is handed to him in an envelope, and how he signs the relevant receipt”.

On 3 June, Udzilauri’s lawyer published a letter written by his client. In it, Giorgi Udzilauri claims that one of the main reasons he became a target was his criticism of what he described as the Georgian government’s anti-Western course.

Udzilauri also argues that the Georgian Dream party, which he says he helped create, no longer exists in its original form. According to him, the current ruling team “sacrifices” its former associates without hesitation.

France recalls intelligence officers from Georgia