Ruling party Executive Secretary expects “new wave” of “disinformation and provocation campaign” against Georgia

Mamuka Mdinaradze, the Executive Secretary of the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party, said on Wednesday a “new wave” of “disinformation and provocation campaign” against Georgia on the backdrop of the war in Ukraine was expected “in the coming days”. 

The party official said the rumours would be “focused on causing unrest in this country” and the “opening of a second front” connected to the ongoing conflict. The statement came after allegations by the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine and Vice Prime Minister Irina Vereshchuk, who this week alleged the Georgian political leadership had agreed to smuggle sanctioned goods to Russia through Georgia.

An unprecedented and unheard-of hybrid war is waged against our country. It is obvious to everyone that the representatives of the radical Georgian opposition in the Ukrainian Government, and their colleagues, are waging an open hybrid war against Georgia. All their resources are involved in this war, and the degree of misinformation, fake news and provocations staged by them has already crossed all red lines,” Mdinaradze said.

The ruling party Executive Secretary added that Georgia had a “clear, principled position” on all international platforms over its support of Ukraine in the war.

It is already obvious and logical that in the coming days we will see a new wave of the disinformation and provocation campaign against Georgia, which will be aimed at causing unrest in Georgia and also the opening of a second front. Grounds for this are already being prepared, and the statements made by the Ukrainian authorities against our country also seem to be part of this campaign,” he noted.

The Ministry of Finance of Georgia said on Monday the information on Russia creating smuggling channels for sanctioned products using Georgian territory was “a completely baseless and absurd accusation”.