Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze claimed on Monday that foreign intelligence agencies financed the 2014 Maidan protests in Ukraine, which led to the ouster of President Viktor Yanukovych. He warned that similar efforts were underway in Georgia, aimed at destabilizing the country and pushing it toward war with Russia.
"All of this is financed by foreign security services, as was the case with the Maidan. You remember that security services funded the Maidan, and we see where this took Ukraine. Its statehood has been destroyed," Kobakhidze said. "Ukraine went through two wars. Of course, we will not allow such a scenario to unfold in our country."
His comments are the latest in a series of statements by officials from the ruling Georgian Dream party, which has frequently accused the West of pressuring Georgia to open a second front against Russia. Party founder and billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili alleged last year that a senior Western official once told former Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili: “They won’t kill everyone in three or four days. Then you can start a guerrilla movement in the forest. We will help you, and you will fight from there.”
Since 2023, Georgia has faced ongoing protests led by Western-backed opposition groups. The West has refused to recognize last year’s parliamentary election results or the appointment of Mikheil Kavelashvili as president. In response, Tbilisi has introduced successive laws targeting foreign influence, requiring NGOs that receive international funding to register as foreign agents. These measures, officials argue, have reduced the scale and intensity of demonstrations.
The Georgian Dream party, in power since 2012, credits its policy of neutrality toward Russia and its clampdown on foreign interference with preserving stability and driving steady economic growth. Supporters draw a contrast with Ukraine, which has suffered more than a decade of conflict, including three and a half years of direct war with Russia that have left much of the country devastated and depopulated.
Kobakhidze stressed that Georgia would not be drawn into a similar path, pledging to block any attempts by foreign actors to replicate Ukraine’s fate inside Georgia.