Opposition slams reported political purge at Georgian Foreign Ministry

Georgia’s opposition parties have accused the government of carrying out a political purge within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, following reports that a key department overseeing European integration was being dismantled and hundreds of diplomats dismissed.

According to reports, the Ministry plans to abolish the General Directorate for European Integration – a unit responsible for managing Georgia’s EU-oriented foreign policy agenda. As many as 250 employees are expected to be dismissed as part of what officials have described as a reorganisation. The Ministry has not commented publicly on the matter, despite requests for clarification from domestic media outlets.

Salome Samadashvili, a member of the opposition Strong Georgia party and a former ambassador to the European Union, denounced the move as a politically motivated purge targeting civil servants loyal to Georgia’s pro-Western path.

“What is planned at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs – the final purge of cadres loyal to Western policies – should be a lesson for everyone,” Samadashvili said in a statement, quoting Winston Churchill – “an appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last.”
Samadashvili also criticised what she described as the diplomatic corps’ prolonged silence amid Georgia’s “shifting foreign policy.” She referenced the government’s decision late last year to delay the country’s EU integration until 2028 and the adoption of controversial legislation commonly referred to as the “foreign agents” law, widely condemned by civil society and international partners.

“I appreciate everyone who took the right step in response to the rejection of the EU membership application on November 28… But if you remain silent for a long time, the crocodile will simply eat you later,” she said.

Grigol Gegelia, a fellow member of the Lelo–Strong Georgia alliance, went further, describing the restructuring as a “historic rollback” of Georgia’s European trajectory.

“Along with the abolition of the European Directorate, the Georgian Dream government, through its self-proclaimed minister, is starting a political purge in the Ministry,” Gegelia claimed. “This is the first reorganisation of this scale in 12 years – it is not administrative reform, it is political repression.”

According to Gegelia, the dismissed staff include signatories of a petition affirming loyalty to Article 78 of the Georgian Constitution, which obliges the state to pursue full integration into the European Union and NATO.

The reported restructuring follows a broader wave of dismissals across the Georgian public sector. Since late December 2024, hundreds of civil servants in multiple state agencies have been let go. Observers link the process to a series of legislative amendments passed in late December under an accelerated procedure.