Georgian Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Maka Bochorishvili said Georgia has witnessed repeated attempts to polarize society and undermine its democratic institutions, including coordinated campaigns aimed at discrediting constitutional bodies.
Georgian Foreign Ministry announced that Bochorishvili made the remarks while addressing participants at the Ministerial on the Resurgence of Political Terrorism in Washington, D.C., which she attended at the invitation of US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Speaking at the meeting, the minister said placing political terrorism high on the international agenda is particularly important given today’s evolving security challenges.
“This discussion could not be more timely as we face complex and evolving challenges that directly affect our national interests, sovereignty, and security. Around the world, radical groups operate under different ideological banners — including, at times, in the name of democracy. Yet their objective is not to strengthen democratic institutions, but to weaken them,” Bochorishvili said.
Foreign Ministry says the minister cited Georgia as an example of these challenges, saying the country has faced numerous attempts in recent years to weaken its democratic institutions.
“Over the past several years, we have witnessed repeated attempts to undermine our democratic institutions under various pretexts. We have seen coordinated campaigns aimed at discrediting state institutions, including the judiciary, the electoral system, and other constitutional bodies. We have also witnessed attempts by radical groups to use violence and acts of sabotage as political instruments,” Botchorishvili said.
She also warned against what she described as the misuse of international institutions for political purposes, arguing that such practices damage both relations between states and the credibility of international organizations.
“Equally concerning are efforts to exploit international institutions in order to legitimize such actions through resolutions and other mechanisms designed to exert political pressure on sovereign states while undermining the reputation and credibility of these institutions,” she said.
Concluding her address, Bochorishvili argued that political terrorism does not always take its most visible form and can also manifest itself through intimidation, political violence and systematic efforts to weaken democratic institutions from within.
“It is a challenge for every democracy committed to protecting its institutions, its sovereignty, and the will of its people,” the minister said.
