Allegations that the United States is funding “civil society” programs that are aimed at toppling the Georgian government in Tbilisi are “false,” a U.S. State Department spokesman says.
“Allegations against one of our assistance projects are false and fundamentally mischaracterize the goals of our assistance to Georgia,” spokesman Vedant Patel told reporters.
“As always, our assistance is transparent,” he said at an Oct. 3 press briefing.
A day earlier, the Georgian State Security Service (GSSS) accused the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) of funding training programs in the nation at the crossroads of Eastern Europe and Western Asia to teach local activists how to foment civil unrest.
In a statement, the GSSS claimed that three Serbian nationals affiliated with the Center for Applied Nonviolent Action and Strategies (CANVAS) arrived in Georgia late last month.
Based in Belgrade, CANVAS purports to be a nonprofit educational institution devoted to “non-violent resistance in the promotion of human rights and democracy.”
According to the GSSS, the trio provided training for local activists who, it claimed, were meant to “play a role in preparing and executing the violent overthrow of the government.”
The security service went on to assert that the Serbs—all of whom were interrogated by local authorities—had come to the country at USAID’s behest.
Hours after the statement was issued, Irakli Kobakhidze, the leader of Georgia’s ruling Georgian Dream party, requested “clarification” from Washington.
“These people [the Serbian nationals] at first tried to hide the real purpose of their visit,” Mr. Kobakhidze said at a press briefing.
“They said they had meetings with cultural representatives, but it turned out that their goal was to prepare and plan revolutionary activities,” he told reporters.
“It’s all the more disturbing that, as it turns out, all this is funded by the United States and USAID,” Mr. Kobakhidze added.
He also claimed the alleged subversive activities sought to open a “second front” against Russia in the latter’s ongoing conflict with Ukraine and the West.
‘False’ Claims
The U.S. Embassy in Tbilisi was quick to respond to the explosive allegation, which it described as “false” and “unwarranted.”“USAID has been supporting the Georgian people since 1992,” the embassy said in an Oct. 2 statement.
“Our assistance is transparent, and we welcome any opportunities to discuss any concerns the government may have,” it added.
USAID, the statement continued, “has collaborated with CANVAS for more than two years to help people speak up for the issues that matter to their families and communities.”
On the same day, U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said Washington’s “only involvement” in Georgia is for “humanitarian and pro-democracy purposes.”
“We take no position on the leadership of Georgia,” Mr. Miller told reporters. “We take no position on elections in Georgia other than that they ought to be free and fair.”
Amid the U.S. denials, Shalva Papuashvili, speaker of Georgia’s Parliament, lamented what he called a “black day in the history of U.S. aid to Georgia.”
“The money of the American people is being used here to plan revolutionary activities and prepare people for riots and incendiary acts of violence,” he said.
When asked about the claims on Oct. 3, Mr. Patel appeared undaunted.
The United States, he said, would “continue to support Georgian organizations that work to secure fundamental rights provided by the Georgian constitution and Georgia’s international commitments and obligations.”
Alleged Plots Abound
It isn’t the first time the GSSS has warned of alleged revolutionary plots.On Sept. 18, the security service claimed that several individuals, including Giorgi Lortkipanidze, a former Georgian diplomat, were actively seeking to foment a coup in Tbilisi sometime later this year.
Mr. Lortkipanidze, who now reportedly resides in Ukraine, served as deputy foreign minister under Georgia’s previous pro-Western government.
According to the GSSS, the plot involved Georgian nationals currently fighting on behalf of Kyiv, who, it alleged, had been trained by CANVAS near Ukraine’s border with Poland.
The security service claims that these trained cadres planned to stage anti-government protests in Tbilisi if the European Union failed to grant Georgia candidate status at an upcoming EU summit.
Officials in Kyiv dismissed the claims, for which the GSSS didn’t provide any proof.
“The Ukrainian state did not interfere, does not interfere, and does not plan to interfere in the internal affairs of Georgia,” Oleg Nikolenko, a spokesman for Ukraine’s foreign ministry, said in a social media post.
Since Moscow invaded eastern Ukraine early last year, Georgia—which shares a border with Russia—has pursued a relatively neutral course.
While Tbilisi has sent humanitarian aid to Ukraine, it has declined to impose sanctions on Russia. In May, it allowed direct flights to and from Russia to resume for the first time since 2019.
The ‘2nd Front’ Theory
In March, thousands took to the streets of Tbilisi to protest draft legislation that they claimed had been “inspired” by Russia and threatened to harm Georgia–EU relations.After three days of protests, Georgia’s Parliament withdrew the bill, which had sought to limit foreign interference in local “civil society.”
At the time, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov claimed the protests were being orchestrated from abroad, comparing them to Ukraine’s 2014 “Maidan Revolution.”
According to Moscow, the 2014 uprising—which swept Ukraine’s pro-Russia president from power—was nothing less than a Western-backed “coup” against an elected leader.
In April, Sergey Naryshkin, head of Russia’s foreign intelligence service, claimed the West sought to push Georgia into opening a “second front” against Russia.
He decried what he called “persistent attempts”—by Washington, Brussels, and London—to “persuade the Georgian leadership to open a so-called second front.”
Mr. Naryshkin also asserted that Western powers were encouraging Tbilisi to try to reassert control over the disputed Abkhazia and South Ossetia regions.
In 2008, Russia fought—and won—a brief war with Georgia over the two small but strategically important territories.
Tbilisi, along with most Western capitals, still views the two regions as part of Georgia. Moscow, meanwhile, recognizes both as “independent republics.”
At the time, the State Department described the claims—by both Mr. Lavrov and Mr. Naryshkin—as a “now-common narrative of disinformation.”
“This rhetoric distracts Georgian citizens from their goal of Euro-Atlantic integration,” a State Department spokesperson told The Epoch Times.
Claims of a sought-for “second front” against Russia, the spokesperson added, “are absolutely untrue.”
