Georgian Parliament official: Georgia faces intensified foreign-funded hybrid war carried out through propaganda methods

Rati Ionatamishvili, the Chair of the Parliamentary Committee on Human Rights Protection and Civil Integration, on Thursday claimed that a foreign-funded “hybrid war” against Georgia had intensified in recent months and was being carried out through various propaganda methods.

In a social media message, Ionatamishvili alleged that the tasks associated with this campaign were being carried out domestically by what he described as an opposition made up of individuals who are “Georgian by passport, but stateless in essence”.

According to the lawmaker, the primary objective of these efforts is to destabilise the situation in Georgia, damage the economy, impoverish the country and ultimately drag it into a war.

“I am confident that the wise Georgian people will not be misled by these efforts. However, it is clear that foreign-funded pseudo-media outlets are actively pursuing this agenda today. In recent months, you have likely heard repeated claims through foreign-funded media that murders are occurring constantly in Georgia and that the country’s crime situation is allegedly out of control”, the Chair said.

He stressed that the reality was quite the opposite, arguing that those who are currently spreading narratives about crime represent the former Government, under whose rule the situation was, in his words, truly catastrophic.

Ionatamishvili also referred to homicide statistics, claiming that murders in Georgia have been reduced to a minimum and that the clearance rate is now “practically close to 100 percent”.

In contrast, he alleged that during the rule of the former United National Movement government, people were killed on a daily basis on average and murder detection rates were among the lowest in the world.

“These are the people who are now using the crime situation for propaganda purposes, while Georgia in 2026 is one of the safest countries in the world”, he concluded.