Russia has always waged a hybrid war, but what is happening now is much more serious. The Kremlin is trying to change the direction of several countries through propaganda and election interference. These are the accounts of a Georgian civic activist, founder of the Georgian Center in Exile, who spoke exclusively to TVR MOLDOVA on the show Impact Plus. He explained how Russians managed to take control of his country—a state with a promising democracy—and how fragile the political class is.
A deep political crisis, violent protests, and activists convicted… This is the state of Georgia following the massive fraud in the parliamentary elections that led to the suspension of all negotiations for accession to the European Union.
GAGA GOGOLADZE, Civic Activist, Founder of the Georgian Center in Exile: For Georgia, this is one of the most traumatizing experiences in the last 35 years of independence. In the last few weeks, we’ve seen a very harsh crackdown against major civil society actors, such as the six important NGOs that are now accused of planning a coup d’état. We see that the Russians are actively trying to influence elections, not only in neighboring countries, and not only in those that already have a history of imperialism and colonialism, but also in countries in Western Europe, where they are trying to intervene in elections and the political process.
Through increasingly complex propaganda and a political class that initially presented itself as pro-European but quickly slid towards pro-Russian rhetoric, the Kremlin managed to change the direction chosen by the Georgian people, who saw their future within the European Union.
GAGA GOGOLADZE, Civic Activist, Founder of the Georgian Center in Exile: If it weren’t for Russia’s support, I don’t think this regime would survive even a day. You have to understand that in Georgia, even after all the efforts made by these people over many years, especially through propaganda, there is still—according to the latest studies—approximately 78% of the population firmly convinced that our future, the future of Georgia, lies in Europe and within the European Union.
The ruling party, “Georgian Dream,” won the elections in Georgia in October 2024. A month later, Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze announced that his country was freezing the start of EU accession negotiations until 2028.
The full video story originally aired in Romanian on TVR MOLDOVA on September 14, 2025. Moldavian journalist Constantin Uzdris prepared this story as part of The Berlin Journalism School’s (BJS) Strengthening Resilience Against Disinformation program, which is supported by the Federal Foreign Office of Germany.