Georgian pro-government media outlets have picked up an article by Azerbaijani outlet Haqqin.az alleging that jailed former Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili pursued French interests while in office and was in fact “an ‘agent’ of the France-backed ‘revolutionaries’ within Georgian Dream.”
The Haqqin.az article, titled “When Paris Is Behind Your Back, and Prosecutor’s Office Is at Your Door,” was authored by the outlet’s Tbilisi correspondent Vakhtang Jokhadze. It was published on August 26, against the backdrop of new corruption charges brought against Garibashvili, who is already serving a five-year prison sentence after pleading guilty in a money-laundering case.
Haqqin describes Garibashvili as “arguably the most pro-French Georgian politician” after Georgia’s fifth President Salome Zourabichvili. Pointing to his studies in France, the outlet claims that while in power he pursued policies “more corresponding to the interests of Paris than Tbilisi,” which it says posed a threat to Georgia’s state interests.
Much of the article’s argument centers on defense ties with France before and during Garibashvili’s tenure as defense minister. Haqqin recalls that Georgia agreed in 2015 to acquire French air-defense systems and signed a contract with European missile manufacturer MBDA. It claims that France subsequently delayed implementation and that a later agreement extended the delivery deadline until 2020.
According to Haqqin, the systems were still not integrated into Georgia’s air defenses in 2020, when Garibashvili headed the Defense Ministry. The outlet says France attributed the delay to the COVID-19 pandemic, to which, the outlet argued, Garibashvili did not object, while also not seeking alternative suppliers, which, according to the article, left “holes” in Georgia’s defenses.
The outlet also cites the EUR 483 million in French assistance announced under a 2021-2023 cooperation program and the 2023 transit through Georgia of French-made Bastion armored vehicles destined for Armenia, presenting the transit as another manifestation of what it calls Garibashvili’s “pro-French policy.”
Haqqin links these episodes to Georgia’s subsequent domestic political crisis, alleging that Paris backed the Georgian opposition and attempts at what it calls attempts at “revolutionary coup” in 2024 and 2025.
Against that backdrop, Haqqin claims Garibashvili was the only person in Georgia’s ruling party in favor of dialogue with anti-government demonstrators. The outlet portrays the protesters as violent “provocateurs” acting “at the instigation of another ‘Frenchwoman’ — Salome Zourabichvili,” and argues that dialogue would have produced “catastrophe,” claiming “decisive action” was necessary to prevent the unrest.
“At the same time, during the height of the protests, Irakli Garibashvili was in fact an ‘agent’ of the France-backed ‘revolutionaries’ within Georgian Dream,” the outlet argues.
Earlier, similar allegations of Garibashvili promoting French interests were made by another Azerbaijani media outlet, Caliber, in a January 16 article authored by Vladimer Tskhvediani and titled “Collapse of Georgia’s pro-French clan.”
The article comes amid an escalating confrontation between Garibashvili and his former Georgian Dream colleagues, with the ex-PM alleging that a group from the current GD leadership pressured him to confess to a corruption offense as a precondition for staying out of politics. On August 24, his allegations were followed by new bribery charges brought against Garibashvili.
Garibashvili and Zourabichvili are not the only figures associated with Georgian Dream rule with a French background. Ruling party founder Bidzina Ivanishvili is also known to hold French citizenship.
Relations between Tbilisi and Paris have deteriorated amid GD’s increasingly anti-Western and illiberal course, with ruling party officials repeatedly railing against the French Embassy, including accusing it of “indirectly funding rallies.”
In June, French outlet Intelligence Online reported that France was forced to recall two intelligence officers stationed in Tbilisi in May after Georgian authorities uncovered recruitment of Ivanishvili’s former associate.
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