Georgian Defence Ministry fires at least five people who signed pro-EU petition

(Updated: about 4 hours ago)• 3 min read

At least five people confirmed that they were dismissed from various positions in the Georgian Ministry of Defence, ostensibly due to ‘reorganisation’.

At least five employees of the agency wrote on social media on Monday and Tuesday that they had received orders stating that they were being fired.

Amid mass protests in Tbilisi and other cities of Georgia, the reorganisations at the ministry were reported by local media in recent months.

An anonymous source told the opposition TV channel Mtavari that the first wave of reorganisation would be completed by the end of February, and at least 200 people would be dismissed from the Defence Ministry.

Anano Gorgodze, the chief specialist of the Personal Data Protection Department of the Ministry of Defence Administration, was told to leave her job after seven years of working for the ministry. She wrote that her entire department was abolished as a result of the reorganisation.

Gorgodze said she was one of nearly 60 employees who signed pro-EU petitions, which were put forth in late November and early December 2024, after Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze announced a decision to halt Georgia’s EU membership process until 2028.

Georgians across the country have been protesting for more than 90 days against the government’s policies and EU U-turn. The political crisis followed October’s parliamentary elections, which according to official results, gave Georgian Dream a large majority, with 54% of the vote.

Gutsa Gvelesiani, an employee of the Department of International Relations and Euro-Atlantic Integration of the ministry, also wrote on Tuesday that ‘the cooperation between the Georgian Ministry of Defence and me since November 1998 ended on 25 February 2025’.

Mariam Obolashvili, an employee of the Department of Strategic Communications and Public Relations, wrote on Facebook that on Tuesday, she ‘received an order from the Ministry of Defence on my dismissal’.

‘I remain committed to the Georgian people, European values, and the best national interests of Georgia’, she posted.

Mikheil Ramazashvili, an employee of the Department of International Relations and Euro-Atlantic Integration, stated that ‘after nine years and two months, it turned out that the Ministry of Defence did not see the need to continue my work’.

Speaking to RFE/RL, Ramazashvili said that he connects his dismissal to signing a petition.

On Monday, Maka Kevlishvili said her position as Deputy Head of a Division in the Strategic Communications Department of the Ministry of Defence was abolished.

‘I was informed of the so-called “verdict” for my “disobedience”. My position as Deputy Head of a Division in the Strategic Communications Department of the Ministry of Defence has been abolished, leaving me unemployed’, she wrote.

‘And when I openly stated that Georgia’s integration into the European Union is inevitable — our only future — I lost my job. Today, I am even more certain that I did the right thing. This destruction cannot continue!’

All five of them have signed the petition supporting Georgia’s EU path.

According to RFE/RL, on 23–24 February, at least 10 people from various departments were notified of their dismissal.

In a rare form of dissent in recent months that predated this latest round of firings, employees from various government bodies, including the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Ministry of Defence, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Education, the Tbilisi City Hall, and others, publicly criticised the government’s actions through open letters.

Following the publication of the letters, a number of government employees were dismissed. A majority of those dismissed from their jobs in government ministries said that they had signed pro-Western petitions in their respective agencies amid public protests, claiming it was the reason for their dismissal.