🇬🇪🇭🇺Viktor Orbán lost Hungary's election yesterday. For most Europeans, this is a relief. For Georgian Dream, it is a strategic catastrophe. Their single most important protector in Europe is gone. Here's what that actually means. 1/6

🇬🇪Georgian Dream just got the Rubio call they've begged for since Jan. 2025. Highest-level US-Georgia contact in years. Kobakhidzes propaganda called it a "reset." Moscow and Tehran will not accept this. Here's why that matters more than the call itself. 1/19

🇬🇪This March, Georgian Dream completes its transition to a legal dictatorship. Not a coup. Not a crackdown. A methodical dismantling of every check on power, done in plain sight while the West watches and does "nothing". Georgia has not backslid. It has crossed a threshold. 1/19

🇬🇪The persistence of the Georgian public and the unified opposition is starting to pay off. Domestic non-recognition and international isolation are driving Georgian Dream crazy and weakening the regime.

🇬🇪The OSCE’s Moscow Mechanism report on Georgia is out. It is one of the most serious international assessments of the country’s democratic trajectory in years. Here are the key findings policymakers should understand ⬇️ 1/21

🇬🇪The OSCE’s Moscow Mechanism report on Georgia is out. It is one of the most serious international assessments of the country’s democratic trajectory in years. Here are the key findings policymakers should understand ⬇️ 1/21

🇬🇪🇮🇷 "Iranian officials describe Georgia as a favorable route for exporting Iranian goods to the European Union." thehill.com/opinion/inte...

🇮🇷I respect those who defend international law. The UN Charter does not permit war for regime change. That principle matters. But let’s not pretend this is a binary moral equation. 1/3 ‌

🇬🇪🇬🇧Breaking: The “Political Council” of Georgian Dream has decided that when the UK sanctions two propaganda outlets, the appropriate response is an unhinged attack on its pro-Western political opponents. 1/9

🇬🇪🇬🇧Breaking: The “Political Council” of Georgian Dream has decided that when the UK sanctions two propaganda outlets, the appropriate response is an unhinged attack on its pro-Western political opponents. 1/9

This morning, the UK sanctioned Georgia’s largest broadcaster, Imedi TV. No media organization has done more to amplify the regime’s anti-Western propaganda amid the war on Ukraine, or to rationalize Georgia’s descent into violent authoritarianism. 1/9

Georgian Dream MP Viktor Japaridze (right) who held 52% of POSTV shares, also narrowly escaped sanctions (for now) by registering the shares under someone else just days ago. A short while ago, Irakli Rukhadze (right) also sold his Imedi TV standings for GEL 1,000 / ~ EUR 320.

I do not think I am promising too much if I say that this story will blow your mind -- how esoteric numerology with bizarro claims about Aryan, Chaldeans and Mesopotamia gives you a surprisingly accurate insight of how to understand #Georgia today. open.substack.com/pub/ganatleb...

🇬🇪🇩🇪A long read - but worth your time. In his interview, German Ambassador to Georgia, Peter Fischer, is refreshingly direct about Georgia’s crisis and Germany’s position. 1/4 www.interpressnews.ge/en/article/1...

BRIEF SUMMARY ON THE NEW STAGE OF ASSAULT IN 🇬🇪👇🏻 The Georgian Dream wants to speed-run in a gamble, they know that their medium-term is brittle. They no longer care about any popularity, they only care about subjugation through disorganization, managed poverty, and emigration. 1/ 📷 @reuters.com

🇬🇪Georgian Dream joins Tehran’s mullahs in celebrating the Islamic Revolution, honoring a request from the Iranian Embassy to light up Tbilisi’s TV tower in the colors of the Iranian flag. The same regime has killed thousands of its own people. This is what GD chooses to support.

Georgia, the most persistent civic resistance in contemporary Europe, needs one key ingredient — a viable political alternative. In the absence of a dominant, that means some form of unity among democratic parties. Such an alternative would swing the process in several ways: 🧵

🇬🇪Georgia has entered a new phase of political repression. A mass “Opposition Silencing Trial” is now underway in Tbilisi, targeting leading opposition figures in a single, collective prosecution that Georgian Dream brands as a “sabotage case.” 1/10

🇬🇪Georgia is sliding into a legal dictatorship. Not overnight. Step by step. Each protest is met with a new tailored law. Each law designed to exhaust, criminalize, and isolate society until resistance itself becomes illegal. Here is how the latest law changes everything. 1/11

🇬🇪Sanctions work by raising the cost of enabling dictatorship. For years, backing Georgian Dream had been “good for business” because the cost was close to zero. That calculation has now changed. 1/3

🇬🇪Listen to my conversation on @talkgeorgia.bsky.social with Giorgi Rukhadze. Do you agree that Georgia will never become an EU member as long as Georgian Dream stays in power? Is GD the most undemocratic and human rights-violating political force in Europe? www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qSI...

🇬🇪Sanctions work by raising the cost of enabling dictatorship. For years, backing Georgian Dream had been “good for business” because the cost was close to zero. That calculation has now changed. 1/3

🇬🇪Georgian Dream knows it lacks legitimacy. That is why Georgians who say “this government is not legitimate” may soon be committing a "crime". 1/2

In today’s Vatnik Soup, made together with chef invité @martinlaineolen.bsky.social , we discuss the extensive links between pedophile sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein and Russian officials and intelligence operatives, and how Western politicians reinforced these links. 1/23

🇬🇪Listen to my conversation on @talkgeorgia.bsky.social with Giorgi Rukhadze. Do you agree that Georgia will never become an EU member as long as Georgian Dream stays in power? Is GD the most undemocratic and human rights-violating political force in Europe? www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qSI...

🇬🇪Tonight at 19:00 (CET)/ 22:00 (Tbilisi) I’m guest on Talk Georgia. I promise - I’m not holding back. Tune in.

Coming up on Talk Georgia tomorrow at 22:00. youtube.com/shorts/dhlTI...

🇬🇪 I’m honored to be invited as a guest on Talk Georgia. I was concerned, direct but hopefully constructive - and I didn’t hold back. Tune in tomorrow at 22:00 (CET). youtu.be/_E7aEJdsVfs

🇬🇪Georgia is sliding into a legal dictatorship. Not overnight. Step by step. Each protest is met with a new tailored law. Each law designed to exhaust, criminalize, and isolate society until resistance itself becomes illegal. Here is how the latest law changes everything. 1/11

🇬🇪Georgian Dream is Europe’s most un-democratic and human rights-violating force currently in power. Today, they announced new amendments to the "Law on Grants" that criminalize receiving foreign support, restrict political participation, and outlaw core democratic activity 1/12

🇬🇪Georgia and Georgian Dream is emerging as a key enabler of Russia’s sanctioned shadow fleet. New reporting by Finland’s YLE reveals how Georgia-registered companies are keeping Russian oil tankers operational despite EU sanctions. 1/11

🇬🇪 Please take a moment to read the strong message and clear recommendations from the United Nations Rapporteur on Human Rights 🇺🇳. The sad reality is that the current government will never follow her advice. That is why GeorgianDream needs to be replaced.

🇬🇪Georgia and Georgian Dream is emerging as a key enabler of Russia’s sanctioned shadow fleet. New reporting by Finland’s YLE reveals how Georgia-registered companies are keeping Russian oil tankers operational despite EU sanctions. 1/11

🇬🇪Disappointing to see France’s ambassador to Georgia, Olivier Courteaud, meet Irakli Kobakhidze to “continue close cooperation”. This is an illegitimate PM, under non-recognition and non-participation by other democracies.

🇬🇪🇮🇷Georgia is strategically very important to the Iranian regime. Not marginal. Not incidental. Under Georgian Dream, Georgia has become a country Iran actively relies on to move money, goods, and political influence. 1/11

🇬🇪🇩🇪🇪🇺Georgian Dream propaganda is escalating again. Imedi TV claims German Ambassador Peter Fischer held a “secret” meeting with “extremists” to push an “Iranian scenario.” But fact is Fischer posted the meeting photo himself. The participants posted too. Not secret, not “Iran,” no evidence.

🇬🇪 Georgia has crossed the line - it is no longer a democracy. Georgian Dream is Europe’s most extreme and undemocratic political force, and those who enable it or act on its behalf should be treated accordingly. My new Substack: terjehelland1.substack.com/p/georgia-ha...

🇬🇪Georgia is no longer a democracy. This is not “backsliding” or “under strain”. It is an authoritarian system where power is, right now, being engineered to never change hands. Calling it anything else is denial. 1/11 📷Maurizio Orlando / Hans Lucas

🇮🇷🇬🇪Over the past two years, Georgia’s ruling party Georgian Dream has quietly deepened ties with Iran. Not rhetorically. Practically. Through trade, business access, and political signaling that matters far more than speeches. 1/9

🇬🇪Nicolás Maduro was one of the first to recognize Georgia’s disputed October 2024 elections. Let that sink in. When Venezuela 🇻🇪endorses your election while democratic partners withhold recognition, it is highly revealing of the Georgian Dream regime.

🇬🇪Peaceful protesters beaten, journalists assaulted, political prisoners jailed, opposition crushed, and WW1-era chemical agents used against civilians in the streets. This is not Europe🇪🇺. Georgia is not a democracy. This is authoritarian rule in real time. 1/12

🇬🇪Peaceful protesters beaten, journalists assaulted, political prisoners jailed, opposition crushed, and WW1-era chemical agents used against civilians in the streets. This is not Europe🇪🇺. Georgia is not a democracy. This is authoritarian rule in real time. 1/12

🇬🇪When the foreign minister of an EU member state feels compelled to reassure the mayor of Tbilisi that Europe must never sanction Georgian Dream’s leaders, it tells you everything about what the regime fears most. Not elections. Not protests. Its personal sanctions.

🇬🇪BBC has confirmed that Georgian Dream used a WW1 chemical agent, Bromobenzyl cyanide, against peaceful protesters. People suffered chemical burns, respiratory distress and long-term injuries. www.bbc.com/news/article...?

🇬🇪🇳🇴Norway’s MFA has given a clear and principled response to the appeal from Kreba • კრება / Association of Georgians in Norway about Georgia’s democratic crisis. All cooperation and political contact with Georgian Dream’s leadership is suspended. The MFA states: 1/5

A very important study on Russia sanctions evasion by the Georgian Dream regime (a Russian proxy in Georgia). fpc.org.uk/dealing-with...

🇬🇪Over the past three years, Georgia has transformed from a fragile democracy into a Russian-aligned kleptocracy. The ruling party, Georgian Dream (GD), isn’t just authoritarian-it’s financially desperate. Everything it does now revolves around one thing: cash. 1/18

🇬🇪A year ago, I stood in Tbilisi and saw it with my own eyes – the opposition won the 2024 election. Edison exit polls showed Georgian Dream losing badly. Yet GD fabricated a 54% “victory,” has since arrested the very politicians who defeated them, and now prepares to ban their parties altogether.

It’s been hard 24h for Georgians. Grave mistakes were made. Yesterday, Georgia lost a battle against Russian takeover - but the fight for freedom &democracy continues. If there’s one thing yst proved, it’s that resistance hasnt disappeared. They tried to bury us. They didn’t know we were seeds. 1/12

🇬🇪Georgia’s Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) might sound like a graft-busting agency, but under Razhden Kuprashvili it has become a political weapon. Georgian Dream is using it to wage a repressive crackdown on civil society, silencing NGOs and opposition voices. 1/13