Parliament Committee Chair claims deep state seeks new players in Georgia, UK initiative mirrors USAID's goals

Giorgi Gabunia, the Chair of the Culture Committee of the Georgian Parliament, on Saturday claimed that recent initiatives by the United Kingdom Foreign Office were mirroring past USAID efforts, accusing both of seeking to interfere in Georgia’s internal political affairs under the guise of supporting democratic development.

In his remarks, Gabunia noted that the deep state was seeking to introduce new players into Georgia’s domestic political arena, citing the United Kingdom Foreign Office’s recent initiative to fund civil society projects ahead of Georgia’s 2025 municipal elections.

“We have seen numerous attempts to stage a revolution in Georgia. Thanks to the prudent and consistent policies of the Georgian Government, we have avoided attempts to drag the country into a terrible process. The Government acted wisely and consistently and prevented both the attempted revolution and a very dangerous development of civil unrest in Georgia”, the Parliament official said.

He further emphasised that although USAID had been widely criticised, particularly under the new United States administration, “a new player is needed”, and pointed to the United Kingdom’s initiative as a direct continuation of such influence.

“Zaza Shatirishvili’s [Georgian philosopher] letter is precisely related to the regrouping of the deep state and the introduction of new approaches that we are currently witnessing. For years, USAID has spent millions of dollars in Georgia with the aim of creating unrest and injecting disruption into domestic politics. However, under the new United States administration, USAID itself was accused of spending money over the years on interfering in the internal political affairs of various countries with dishonest intentions. As a result, USAID has been exposed”, Gabunia continued.

He also warned against what he referred to as a “network of soft power agents” in the country.

“The unfortunate part is that they have a substantial support network in Georgia - we have an abundance of soft power agents. Sadly, they will do everything to implement the planned scenario and derail Georgia’s current path of peaceful development. This dynamic must be preserved, and we must not allow anyone to weaken Georgia or pull it into the global scenario that the deep state has planned”, Gabunia concluded.