As Georgia dismantles its civil service, the Kremlin watches and wins

For more than three decades, Georgia’s public service has stood as one of the most resilient pillars of its democratic transition and Euro-Atlantic ambitions. As a former diplomat, I have seen first-hand how generations of civil servants, despite changes in political leadership, have worked tirelessly to advance Georgia’s NATO and EU integration, build strategic alliances, and enhance national security. Today, that pillar is being deliberately dismantled.

The recent purges and so-called “reorganization” of Georgia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) and Ministry of Defense (MOD) are not administrative updates or efficiency improvements. They are part of a systematic campaign to punish loyalty to constitutional principles and sever the state’s institutional commitment to the West. In the process, the Georgian Dream (GD) government is hollowing out the very public service that has safeguarded the country’s sovereignty and global standing.

The chain of developments began with GD’s stunning November 28th announcement to postpone Georgia’s EU accession process until at least 2028. The decision drew immediate and widespread condemnation, not just from foreign partners, but from within the state itself. Around 240 diplomats courageously signed a joint statement reaffirming their loyalty to Article 78 of Georgia’s Constitution, which obliges the government to pursue EU and NATO membership. What followed was a textbook case of political retaliation.

New legal amendments were swiftly passed to facilitate dismissals in the public service under the mask of “reorganization”. The MOD was among the first to feel the blow: nearly two dozen professionals were ousted, and the division for the “Substantial NATO-Georgia Package” was shut down. These dismissals were not performance-based – they were ideological purges targeting individuals who refused to surrender their commitment to Georgia’s democratic path.

The MFA has faced an even more aggressive assault. On April 29th, the head of the ministry, Maka Botchorishvili, announced the launch of a reorganization process. By July 1st, over 40 diplomats in Tbilisi were dismissed, including senior directors and division heads. An additional 20 were dismissed from embassies and consulates abroad. The “Information Centre on NATO and EU”, serving at the forefront of the fight against anti-western disinformation, was also shut down.

But the damage was not limited to personnel. The very architecture of Georgia’s diplomatic apparatus has been ruined. There are no longer dedicated directorates for European and Euro-Atlantic integration. The Directorate-General for EU Integration was transformed into a general European Affairs Department, blurring its focus. The division responsible for the implementation and elaboration of Georgia’s key NATO integration mechanism, the Annual National Programme, no longer exists. Its functions now, if at all, have been absorbed into a three-person division with undefined responsibilities.

Security policy has suffered an even greater erosion. The department that once handled cyber diplomacy, counterterrorism, arms control, and multilateral security frameworks has vanished. In its place is a hollowed-out “Division for Security Policy”, whose purpose remains opaque. Meanwhile, the Department for the Americas has been merged with the departments handling Asia and Africa under the same Directorate-General, contradicting the objectives of the US-Georgia Charter on Strategic Partnership.

Public service in Georgia has long been a merit-based profession that transcended party lines. This new era marks a rupture with that tradition. Civil servants are now being punished for upholding the Constitution and for resisting the abandonment of Georgia’s strategic compass. The result is a catastrophic loss of institutional memory, professionalism, and policy continuity at a time when the international security environment demands the exact opposite.

What we are witnessing is not a series of isolated dismissals or routine bureaucratic reshuffles. It is a deliberate campaign to politicize state institutions and reroute the strategic direction of the country. The firing of experienced diplomats and defence professionals, the closure of the units focusing on the EU and NATO, and the centralization of foreign policy under ideologically loyal but professionally unqualified hands are all part of a broader trend. Georgia is being manoeuvred into geopolitical isolation by a government that no longer sees value in partnership with the democratic West.

These moves, however, should be viewed in the context of broader geopolitical dynamics. They are not just the instruments of authoritarian rule one might observe elsewhere but a critical part of the turmoil Georgia has been shrouded in for more than a year now. What is unfolding is an ongoing Russian influence operation in Georgia, which, if successful, will strengthen Moscow’s power projection across the wider Black Sea and the Middle East. This comes at a moment when Russia is weakened by Ukraine’s maritime campaign against its Black Sea Fleet and is close to losing its military foothold in Syria.

If left unaddressed, these trends will leave Georgia diplomatically marginalized, strategically vulnerable, and morally adrift. Its future in the European and Euro-Atlantic community will remain not just delayed, but dangerously imperilled. Such an outcome would serve only to advance Russia’s objectives, strengthening its presence in a region that remains strategically vital to both the United States and the West as a whole.