TBILISI, June 5 – France has reportedly recalled two intelligence officers from Georgia, weeks after Tbilisi publicly warned partner countries not to run intelligence operations on Georgian soil.
The report, first published by the French outlet Intelligence Online and cited by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s Georgian Service, says the two officers were withdrawn from Georgia in May. The move was reportedly linked to the arrest of Giorgi Udzilauri, a former senior official in Georgia’s Financial Police and former press secretary of Cartu Bank.
Udzilauri was arrested on May 5 on espionage charges. Prosecutors say he held a senior post in a state agency and, for material benefit, systematically collected and passed different kinds of information to a foreign intelligence service against Georgia’s interests. The case is classified as secret, and the charge carries up to 12 years in prison.
DFWatch reported on May 9 that Mamuka Mdinaradze, state minister for coordination of law enforcement agencies, had issued a warning to the special services of Georgia’s friendly and partner countries after Udzilauri’s arrest.
“I want to ask the representatives of the special services of our friendly or partner countries: what our country does not do in their countries, they should not do in our country,” Mdinaradze said at the time.
That warning now comes into new light, as Intelligence Online claims that an operation by Georgia’s State Security Service created tension between Tbilisi and Paris, and that France’s foreign intelligence service had to recall two officers from Tbilisi to Paris.
According to the same report, cited by Interpressnews, Georgian authorities did not declare the French officers persona non grata, in order to avoid further damaging diplomatic relations. Instead, they reportedly demanded that France withdraw them, warning that their identities could otherwise be made public.
Neither Georgian authorities nor the French government have publicly commented on those specific claims, according to Georgia Today.
Udzilauri denies guilt, according to his lawyer. His defense says the case contains no evidence proving harm to Georgia’s interests or links with foreign special services. Prosecutors say they have direct evidence confirming espionage, but say details cannot be disclosed because the investigation is ongoing and the case is secret.
Georgia’s State Security Service later released part of a hidden video, saying it showed the suspect receiving instructions, money in an envelope and signing a document during what it called a “conspiratorial meeting.”
Udzilauri’s arrest on May 5 triggered a wave of theories among public figures in Tbilisi. Former president Salome Zourabichvili suggested on social media that the arrest was linked to Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze’s meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, and to Georgian Dream’s need to show that the handshake did not mean a real shift toward Europe. She wrote that Georgian Dream had opened a “new wave” by declaring its own propagandists to be spies.
Other critics also saw the case as political. Eka Beselia, a former Georgian Dream lawmaker, said she could not rule out that the espionage charge had been “fabricated” as punishment because Udzilauri had moved away from the ruling party’s main political line. She called it unusual that the case reportedly involved alleged spying for a European country, not a hostile state.
Analyst Irakli Melashvili gave another reading, saying the arrest looked like an internal fight inside Georgian Dream and a purge of people linked to former prime minister Irakli Gharibashvili. He noted the irony that Udzilauri had previously fought against pro-European and liberal groups, but was now being accused of being “Europe’s agent.”
Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili responded to the new French report on Friday by saying foreign intelligence activity in Georgia cannot be treated differently depending on whether the country involved is friendly or hostile.
“There is no friendly intelligence officer and hostile intelligence officer,” Papuashvili said. “Everyone should stop intelligence and espionage. No one’s intelligence has anything to do in Georgia.”
