GEORGIA: Concerns over Sanctions & more – 12th June 2025

Gamarjobat from Gracia! This is the Rorshok Georgia Update from the 12th of June twenty twenty-five. A quick summary of what's going down in Georgia.

On Thursday, the 5th, Nacho Sánchez Amor, a Spanish member of the European Parliament, said during a session that politicians of the Georgian Dream, or the Kotsebi, are trying hard to avoid personal sanctions. He said EU officials and major NGOs have been getting calls from Georgian politicians worried about their assets, homes in Europe, and kids studying abroad. He thinks sanctions are the only thing that made the Kotsebi react at all.

He was also sharply critical of the ruling party’s authoritarian methods, saying that cracking down on opposition, targeting civil society through foreign agent laws, and pushing pro-Russian narratives while being occupied by Russia is madness.

On the same day, Giorgi Jamdeliani, Bishop of Marneuli and Hujabi, said during a sermon that a government official tried to poison him. He said the official works in state security and had turned a nun from the bishop’s residence into an informant. The nun allegedly spent a year giving him private information and was told to either poison the bishop’s food or apply a toxin to his hand. The bishop said he expelled the nun two months ago and, with help from locals, beat the official and his bodyguards.

He says the issue is not over, as the official still sends people to pressure him. The bishop also said he might take the case to the synod and step down if proven wrong. He thinks the government is backing the official’s actions—unless they publicly distance themselves soon.

On Monday, the 9th, Tina Bokuchava, chairwoman of the United National Movement, or the Natsebi, said masked men kidnapped her husband, former party political council member Kote Ioseliani, and forced him to record a public apology video to Uta Ivanishvili, the son of ruling party founder Bidzina Ivanishvili. The apology was for a comment made seven years ago about Uta being homosexual. Ioseliani had already apologized for that comment years ago.

Bokuchava says five masked men attacked Ioseliani near their home, blindfolded him, tied him up, and forced him into a car. She believes they took him to the State Security Service building and pressured him for eight hours. The kidnappers allegedly threatened the couple’s children, naming their school and daycare locations.

After Bokuchava’s statements, the police summoned Ioseliani to question him about kidnapping.

Next up, on Thursday, the 5th, Robin Dunnigan announced she’s stepping down as U.S. Ambassador to Georgia and retiring after twenty-three years in diplomatic service. She says it’s a personal decision and not something the U.S. government requested. She plans to leave the country in July. Dunnigan called her time in Georgia the highlight of her career and thanked the embassy teams in Tbilisi and Washington.

Dunnigan was appointed to Georgia less than two years ago. That period was marked by worsening and near-total breakdown of relations between the two countries, ending up with the U.S. pausing its strategic partnership with Georgia. Whoever gets the job next will have their work cut out for them.

In related news, Georgia has a new ambassador to the U.S. It’s been almost six months since Davit Zalkaniani, the previous ambassador, resigned shortly after the pro-European protests began. He didn’t officially distance himself from the Kotsebi and cited private reasons for stepping down.

Tamar Taliashvili is the new ambassador. She’s relatively unknown to the public, and the most relevant part of her background appears to be her role as Georgia’s permanent representative to the Council of Europe.

The Trump administration has already approved her nomination.

On Tuesday the 10th, Zviad Kharazishvili—also known as Khareba—the infamous head of the special tasks department, resigned. A spokesperson for the Ministry of Eternal Affairs said Khareba stepped down voluntarily.

Khareba’s department was responsible for brutally suppressing and cracking down on pro-European demonstrators. He was seen as the face of the Kotsebi's brutality, and his unit allegedly used systematic torture against protesters.

Misha Kavelashvili, the Kotsebi’s president, awarded Khareba and Vakhtang Gomelauri, the Minister of Internal Affairs, who also recently resigned, an Order of Merit for upholding law and order.

Still, recall that both of them have been sanctioned by the U.S. and several European countries

Shifting gears, Wednesday, the 11th, marked the fifth time this year that Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze met with Hungary’s President Viktor Orbán. As in all their previous meetings, the two talked about deepening economic ties between countries and Hungary’s special role in supporting Georgia’s EU candidacy. The role is really special, considering Orbán seems to be the only leader in Europe the Kotsbei can call an ally, at a time when most EU leaders shun them.

And just to illustrate this point, on the same day, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said his government is pushing to end visa-free travel to the EU for Georgians. Speaking in parliament, he said Poland is rallying support from other EU countries to suspend the policy, pointing to rising crime linked to Georgian immigrants and concerns over Georgia drifting away from European values. Suspending the visa-free deal needs support from at least fifteen of the twenty-seven EU member states..

In international news, Russia’s state information agency TASS said the UK is increasing efforts to get rid of Georgia’s ruling party. Citing Russia’s foreign intelligence service, the agency wrote that the Brits want to encourage activist groups and push them to team up with the opposition. The idea is to shake things up and start a new round of political pressure on the Kotsebi. They also said the West is annoyed that Georgia is drifting away from liberal values and leaning more into nationalism and control.

According to TASS, London also plans to pour more money into local opposition groups to help them go harder against the government.

Speaking of opponents, Municipal elections set for October remain one of the biggest topics among opposition parties. Right now, four major opposition parties are split on whether to take part or not.

On Monday, the 9th, Beka Liliashvili, one of the leaders of Gakharia’s party, For Georgia or Sakartvelostvis, said his party wants to discuss the idea of a single opposition candidate—someone neutral, with no strong party ties.

Mamuka Khazaradze’s Coalition Strong Georgia or Lelo Dzlieri also wants to join the race. Khazaradze says he doesn’t want Kakhi Kaladze, the current Kotsebi mayor of Tbilisi, to run unopposed and win a third term. His party thinks there’s a real chance to win the mayoral race in the capital.

On the other hand, the Natsebi and the Coalition for Change or Tsvlilebebistvis are boycotting the elections.

In economic news, on Tuesday, the 10th, Fitch Solutions, a research arm of credit rating agency Fitch, released a report linking Georgia’s economic risks to politics, not markets. The report says that the Georgian government’s growing closeness with Russia under the ruling party puts the country at risk of EU sanctions, which could slow the increase in the money supply. It points to rising tension between the government and a mostly pro-European public, along with a drop in EU investment. However, the report also says that the West might avoid pushing sanctions too hard so as not to drive Georgia further toward Russia or China.

Wrapping up this episode with sports, on Tuesday, the 10th, Merab Dvalishvili defended his UFC super bantamweight champion title against Sean O’Malley. Just as his victory was announced, Dvalishvili jumped out of the octagon and shared a brief conversation with President Trump, who was sitting in the front row.

Just a day after his win, he arrived in Georgia. Fans and journalists welcomed him at the airport. He shared that during his moment with Trump he mentioned Georgia, as well as showed his respect and admiration for the U.S. President.

Aaand that’s it for this week! Thank you for joining us!

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Nakhvamdis!