Despite entry ban, Georgian Legion leader arrives in Slovakia
Georgian Legion leader in Slovakia
Mamuka Mamulashvili, commander of the Georgian Legion — a unit fighting in Ukraine — has arrived in Slovakia, despite an official entry ban reportedly imposed earlier this year.
At the end of January 2025, Slovak prime minister Robert Fico claimed that the opposition was plotting a coup and that “a group of experts who took an active part in the protests in Georgia and the Maidan events in Ukraine” had arrived in Slovakia. Around the same time, Fico alleged — without providing evidence — that the Georgian Legion had been involved in organising anti-government protests in Georgia.
On 31 January, Slovakia’s Interior Minister Matúš Šutaj Eštok accused Mamulashvili of allegedly attempting to instigate a coup and announced that he and ten others had been banned from entering the country.
On Wednesday, Slovak journalist Tomáš Forró published an interview with Mamuka Mamulashvili, recorded in late July outside the Slovak government building in Bratislava. In the interview, Mamulashvili once again denied the Slovak government’s accusations of an “attempted coup.”
“Obviously, I didn’t arrive in Slovakia in a coffin. No one can present any evidence that I was planning a coup. I’ve never had ties to any politician — and that hasn’t changed. In a civilised country, people look at facts, not fairy tales broadcast on TV.
I have never attempted a coup in Slovakia, and I’ve never even thought about it. When these accusations were made, I was defending freedom and democracy — not just for Ukraine, but for Georgia, Slovakia, and other countries that could one day become targets of Russian aggression,” Mamulashvili said.
Background
Erik Kaliňák, a Slovak government adviser and Member of the European Parliament, claimed after a visit to Tbilisi — where he met with representatives of Georgian Dream, including foreign minister Maka Bochorishvili — that the ongoing protests in both Georgia and Slovakia are being funded from abroad through various NGOs.
Kaliňák published a photo showing Mamuka Mamulashvili alongside Lucia Štaselová, one of the organisers of the anti-government protests in Slovakia. Štaselová clarified that the photo was taken two years ago in Bratislava, at the launch of a book by Tomáš Forró, in which Mamulashvili is mentioned as one of the key figures.
In late January 2025, a Ukrainian national was arrested in Slovakia on charges of plotting a coup. According to local media, the detainee was deported from the country.
The Georgian Legion is a military unit made up of Georgian volunteers and professional soldiers. It was founded by Mamuka Mamulashvili following Russia’s 2014 invasion of eastern Ukraine.
In February 2016, the Georgian Legion was officially integrated into Ukraine’s 25th Separate Motorised Infantry Battalion and now operates under the Defence Ministry’s Main Directorate of Intelligence.
The Legion, which includes not only Georgian volunteers but also fighters of various other nationalities and ethnic backgrounds, currently has around 2,000 members.
On 5 October 2023, Russia’s Interior Ministry placed Mamulashvili on a wanted list. He responded on social media with a jab: “Amazing how they managed to beat Georgian Dream to it.”
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