🚨 Tinatin Khidasheli, Chair of Civic IDEA, was recently featured in an Italian Magazine Le Monde and Il Foglio, offering her analysis on Russian influence in Europe and Georgia’s strategic challenges.🚨
In Le Monde she warned:
“Georgia once represented the greatest hope for a truly Euro-Atlantic Caucasus. Yet despite countless warning signals, the EU still struggles to respond decisively. Without a united stance, Tbilisi risks trading its European path for cozy ties with authoritarian regimes like Russia, China and Iran.”
She went on to urge Italy and other EU members to seize the initiative:
“The Georgian government is trading away the country’s Euro-Atlantic future for political survival—and handing strategic assets to authoritarian regimes. This isn’t just Georgia’s problem; it’s Europe’s problem.”
“It’s essential that member states step up—more national sanctions, more diplomatic pressure, and undivided solidarity with the Georgian people. Europe’s credibility is at stake.”
— Tinatin Khidasheli, ilfoglio.it , April 2025
🔍 Here are the key highlights from the articles below:
In her recent article featuring in Le Monde and Il Foglio, Tinatin Khidasheli distilled two intertwined challenges facing Europe and Georgia today:
- France’s “Consular Vigilance” Against Moscow
- Counter-Infiltration Measures: Paris has rejected 1,200 visa and accreditation requests at its Russian consulates since April 2022—350 of them specifically for France—to choke off networks of Russian intelligence operatives. Domestic and foreign services (DGSI and Quai d’Orsay) now scrutinize everyone from academic speakers and festival-goers to phony journalists and diplomatic spouses.
- AI-Driven Propaganda: Operation Storm-1516, uncovered by NewsGuard, used AI-generated fake-news narratives in nearly 39,000 posts between December 2024 and March 2025 (55.8 million views), accusing figures like Brigitte Macron and Zelensky of corruption or worse.
- Khidasheli’s Take:
“These aren’t Old-World spies slipping coded messages across borders—now the battlefield is online. Democracies must treat consular controls and digital vigilance as two sides of the same shield.”
- Counter-Infiltration Measures: Paris has rejected 1,200 visa and accreditation requests at its Russian consulates since April 2022—350 of them specifically for France—to choke off networks of Russian intelligence operatives. Domestic and foreign services (DGSI and Quai d’Orsay) now scrutinize everyone from academic speakers and festival-goers to phony journalists and diplomatic spouses.
- Georgia’s Geopolitical Drift
- Surging Authoritarian Ties: Despite once being Europe’s beacon in the South Caucasus, Georgia’s exports to Russia and imports from China have spiked by 1,700 % and 350 % respectively. Visits to Tehran and Belt-and-Road disengagement signal a strategic pivot away from the EU.
- Domestic Erosion: Under the ruling Georgian Dream party, democratic institutions have been weakened—rigged elections, media intimidation, and judicial control—while strategic ports and energy assets edge toward foreign hands.
Khidasheli’s Call:
“Georgia’s European journey is at risk of being sold off, one strategic asset at a time. It’s not just Tbilisi’s problem—it’s Europe’s. Member states must coordinate sanctions, ramp up diplomatic pressure, and stand unequivocally with the Georgian people.”
