Georgian PM: “deep state” taking activists to Lithuania for polarisation training

“Georgian activists trained in Lithuania”

Georgian Dream prime minister Irakli Kobakhidze has claimed that foreign forces are taking Georgian radical activists to Lithuania and training them there in “deepening polarisation in Georgia.”

“They are being given special training there. This is extremely worrying,” the prime minister added.

Kobakhidze did not specify who exactly was training activists in Lithuania. But in his view, the “deep state” is making particularly active use of the UK to intensify polarisation in Georgia.

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According to the prime minister, the situation in Georgia has stabilised since the adoption of the laws on “foreign agents” and grants:

“We have managed to reduce polarisation in Georgia – primarily thanks to the law on transparency [of foreign influence], the so-called FARA, as well as the law on grants. We see that polarisation has radically decreased, because the forces that previously funded polarisation and hatred in Georgia in a non-transparent way can no longer operate so freely.”

However, Kobakhidze said “external forces” were unhappy with this:

“You can see they have come up with alternative forms [of interference], taking radical activists to Lithuania to deepen polarisation and giving them training. This is extremely worrying. It is a great shame when certain European forces are associated with attempts to stir up hatred in Georgia.”

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The main enemy of Georgian Dream – the “deep state” – was initially labelled by the ruling party as the “global war party.” But after Donald Trump was elected US president, it was the term “deep state” that took firm root in the party’s propaganda rhetoric.

Georgian Dream portrays the “deep state” as an external global force whose main goal is to drag Georgia into the war in Ukraine and open a second front on its territory.

According to this narrative, the “deep state” uses many methods to achieve that aim, including polarising society and fuelling unrest inside the country. Helping it, Georgian Dream claims, is an internal network embodied by the “radical opposition.” The ruling party uses this label for all critics of the government, including journalists.

“Georgian activists trained in Lithuania”

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