Georgia has accused a senior Ukrainian official of planning to overthrow the government through mass unrest, escalating tensions between the two ex-Soviet countries. Georgia has been accused of cooperating with the Kremlin, despite the presence of Russian forces in separatist regions since 2008. The Georgian security services claim that Giorgi Lortkipanidze, deputy chief of Ukraine’s military counterintelligence and former deputy interior minister of Georgia, is overseeing a plot to violently overthrow the government. The conspirators, including a bodyguard of Georgia’s ex-president Mikhail Saakashvili who is fighting Russian forces in Ukraine, are allegedly being trained near the Polish border.
Ukraine has been pressuring Georgia to release Saakashvili, an ailing politician who is now a Ukrainian national and a top advisor to President Volodymyr Zelensky. Ukraine accuses the Georgian authorities of harming Saakashvili on Kremlin orders and demands his transfer to a foreign clinic. In response, Georgia condemns this as an extreme escalation in diplomatic relations.
The Georgian security service revealed that anti-government protests are being planned for October and December, coinciding with the European Commission’s decision on Georgia’s EU membership application. The plot allegedly receives coordination and funding from a foreign country.
While the EU recognizes Georgia’s “European perspective,” it has deferred its membership application and granted candidacy to Ukraine and Moldova. This has sparked mass protests in Tbilisi, where the government is facing allegations of undermining democracy and hampering Georgia’s EU membership bid. EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell stated that Tbilisi still has work to do to attain formal candidate status.