The Daily Beat: 2 October
Security agency claims that it had uncovered a cunning plot of the USAID-funded trainers attempting to foment an uprising in Georgia. According to the Security Service statement, three Serbian trainers participating in a USAID-funded program were actively recruiting activists to orchestrate the violent overthrow of Georgia’s elected government. The Security Service also noted that Serbian trainers are affiliated with CANVAS – Center for Applied Non-Violent Actions and Strategies.
Georgian Dream leadership, including the Prime Minister, fully backed the Security Service’s anti-Western claims, saying these allegations “fully align” with previous disclosures, exposing the plans and intentions of destructive, hostile, and anti-national forces. According to PM Garibashvili, it has become clear that “foreign countries are actively involved” in these “revolutionary” activities with the arrival of citizens from abroad to conduct training sessions.
The US Embassy in Tbilisi reacted to the State Security Service’s statement, saying that the allegations against one of the embassy’s assistance projects are false, fundamentally mischaracterizing the goals of the US assistance to Georgia. “As always, our assistance is transparent, and we welcome any opportunities to discuss any concerns the government may have,” reads the embassy statement.
Opposition MPs also dismissed the Security Service’s statement, describing it as an attempt to cover up the story of FSB-linked Otar Partskhaladze and distract public attention from other important matters. Some opposition MPs believe that the State Security Service tries to intimidate citizens in the old USSR-style by exposing “new enemies and threats.” Civil.ge has compiled reactions of the opposition MPs to the security service’s statement.
The Russian Federation Council’s Committee on Foreign Affairs Chair, Grigory Karasin, verbally insulted Georgia’s President, Salome Zurabishvili, saying she suffers from “political schizophrenia.” Russian official, who is also in charge of informal talks with the Georgian government, was commenting on President Zurabishvili’s interview with the Lithuanian Public Broadcaster on September 29, where she said: “If Russia is not halted in Ukraine, Vladimir Putin’s next move could target the Baltic states or Georgia.”
Transparency International-Georgia (TI-Georgia), a local watchdog, reported on the state of the TV advertising market. The Report by TI-Georgia revealed that the annual trend of growth in advertising revenues of TV broadcasters, dominant since 2019, was reversed in 2022. According to the TI-Georgia report, in 2022, the total advertising revenue of TV and radio broadcasters decreased by 7.6% compared to the previous year of 2021, amounting to GEL 79.9 million. The report notes that advertising forms 67.5% of the total revenue of the broadcasters.
The Human Rights Center issued the report on the Human Rights Situation alongside the occupation line of the Tskhinvali Region, outlining human rights violations committed by Russia’s occupying regime from April 2023 to September 2023. These violations include illegal borderization, restricted access to natural resources for locals, violation of property rights, and deteriorated social-economic situation caused by the occupation. The report also contains recommendations for improving the socio-economic and human rights situation in the villages adjacent to the occupation line.
