Has Georgia joined war on Russia's side?

The Georgians also exposed Romania, Bulgaria, and Turkey to publicity.

"The State Security Service of Georgia announced the detention of a minibus with explosives en route Odesa-Voronezh: explosives weighing 14 kg were being transported under the guise of batteries for electric vehicles. The cargo was shipped from Odesa via Romania, Bulgaria and Turkey and crossed the Turkish-Georgian border at the Sarpi checkpoint on January 19. The destination of the cargo was Voronezh, three explosive devices were seized at the Russian-Georgian border, but three more devices were "left in Tbilisi at a specific address.”

“In fact, it is the simultaneous involvement of three NATO countries (including two EU countries) along with Ukraine in a public scandal that means that this can hardly be considered an "accidental faux pas" by Georgians. Because there are certain limits to stupidity, and such a demarche goes far beyond them.”

Georgia received the status of an official candidate for EU membership from the Council of the European Union only on December 14, 2023, "on the tail" of Ukraine. And in less than 2 months, it sided with the aggressor that the Union opposes, helping Ukraine and the Armed Forces. Whichever way you look at it, this is at least a betrayal of the interests of almost official partners, both from the Alliance and the Union.

“And yes, this is a serious blow to the remnants of Georgian-Ukrainian relations. Because Georgia has so far taken a pro-Russian position on many issues, including sanctions. However, it has not directly intervened in the war.”

Perhaps the reason for such a demonstrative step was the announcement of the reshuffle of pro-Russian prime ministers in Georgia just today: Irakli Garibashvili (who has been offered to lead the ruling party of Russian oligarch Bidzina Ivanishvili's Georgian Dream) is likely to be replaced by Irakli Kobakhidze (former head of the Georgian Dream). And the Deputy Speaker of the Parliament Irakli Chikovani (both from the pro-Russian Georgian Dream) will take the place of Defense Minister Juansher Burchuladze. This became known only on Monday, after the incident. The Georgian parliament has introduced a "yellow level" of security in connection with the change of government.That is, Georgia is now formally in a short period of "interregnum" - and perhaps the Georgian authorities (and special services) acted with the expectation that responsibility for an openly hostile step could be attributed to "confusion.”

Well. It's unpleasant, of course. But it's always better to be informed about such things and have certainty. To know the entire list of enemies by sight. Including to plan further special operations with Georgia as an enemy country in mind.

So far, there has been no information from either European or Ukrainian sources about any official reaction to this unfriendly move by a country that has received huge advances from NATO and the EU. Probably, the circumstances and consequences of Georgia's actions are being unofficially clarified.

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Of course, this in no way diminishes our respect for the 1,300 fighters of the Georgian Legion (subordinate to the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine), which has been fighting against Russia since 2014. More than 50 members of the Legion have lost their lives in this war.

Source

About the author. Oleksiy Holobutsky, political scientist.

The editors don't always share the opinions expressed by the authors of the blogs.