PM Kobakhidze accuses ‘deep state’ of using EU funds to fuel unrest in Georgia

Irakli Kobakhidze has accused a so-called “deep state” of manipulating European Union funding to promote anti-government protests and revolutionary activity in Georgia, warning that such actions were eroding public trust in the EU.

Speaking to journalists on Friday, Kobakhidze claimed that EU-funded non-governmental organisations were behind a recent rally in Tbilisi, where “around 2,000 demonstrators demanded the government's resignation.”

“Everyone sees that the ‘deep state’ is using EU funding to encourage revolutionary processes in Georgia,” Kobakhidze said. “The fact that NGOs financed by EU funds are organising rallies with demands to overthrow the government creates a very sad reality.”

He warned that these developments were not only damaging the credibility of European institutions in Georgia but were contributing to a sharp decline in public confidence. “No one is surprised that trust in the European Union has radically decreased - from 80% to almost 50%,” he said. “The European bureaucracy, which is run by the ‘deep state,’ is destroying trust in European structures in the eyes of Georgian society.”