Georgia’s ruling party official: sabotage investigation timely as orchestrated campaign seeks to portray Georgia as unsafe

Levan Machavariani, the First Deputy Chair of the ruling Georgian Dream party faction in the Parliament, on Thursday said on Thursday that launching an investigation into alleged sabotage was “very timely”, as it would help prevent the creation of a narrative portraying Georgia as an unsafe country.

In his remarks, Machavariani noted that any attack on tourism would automatically translate into a blow to the economy and a slowdown in economic growth.

“It was very timely to launch the investigation, as all of this is unfolding in a highly orchestrated manner. It is as if Georgia is being portrayed as a very dangerous country, as if Russian tourists are being kidnapped in forests. They are fabricating countless stories, which are aimed not only at discouraging Russian tourists from visiting Georgia, but also at spreading fear more broadly. An attack on tourism automatically means an attack on the economy and a slowdown in economic growth, and this is precisely what all of this is intended to cause”, he said.

The State Security Service of Georgia said on Wednesday launched an investigation into allegations of sabotage linked to a foreign-directed and domestically supported disinformation campaign aimed at undermining Georgia’s state interests.

According to the Service, the investigation concerns the coordinated dissemination of discrediting information about Georgia through fake “bot” accounts created and operated from a foreign country across various social media platforms. The Security Service noted that the campaign was aimed at damaging Georgia’s economic interests.