Georgia’s Foreign Ministry undergoes ‘reform’ amidst concerns about EU integration progress

A ‘reform’ is underway at the  Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which critics have described as an attempt to further undermine the country’s EU integration. Reports have also surfaced suggesting that the ministry was dismissing some of its staff.

The first public mention of a planned ‘reorganisation’ at the ministry came from Lelo party member Grigol Gegelia. He claimed on Thursday that Foreign Minister Maka Botchorishvili intended to abolish the Directorate General for European Integration within the Ministry.

The Georgian Dream government uses the term ‘reorganisation’ when it lays off public sector employees.

According to Gegelia, with this decision, Georgian Dream has ‘openly declared’ that EU integration was no longer a priority for the party and ‘no longer warrants a directorate-level structural unit within the ministry’.

He also mentioned that Botchorishvili planned to dismiss 250 ministry employees for signing a pro-European public petition through which staff protested Georgian Dream’s suspension of its EU membership bid on 28 November.

On the same day, the Independent Trade Union of Civil Servants released information about the planned reorganisation at the ministry, noting that employees were informed on 29 April about the new structure, which is set to be approved starting 1 July.

According to the union, the foreign policy priorities enshrined in Georgia’s constitution — including EU and NATO membership and bilateral relations with the U.S. and European partners — will be represented in a ‘diminished form’ under the new structure.

‘Specifically, these areas — which previously fell under the authority of separate structural units and were directly overseen by deputy ministers — are, according to the proposed plan, being consolidated into a new department of Foreign Policy Priorities. As stated in the minister’s letter, the aim of this restructuring is to “strengthen a sovereign foreign policy” ’, the union’s statement read.

According to the union, under the proposed changes:

• Relations with the US are to be addressed within the framework of global affairs;
• NATO is placed within the context of relations with regional and international organisations;
• The EU falls under a unified framework for relations with Europe.

‘The Strategic Communications Department — a structural unit deemed essential for a country like Georgia, which is highly vulnerable to information warfare — is set to be abolished’, the union said.

The ministry’s response

In a written comment sent to media outlets, including OC Media, the ministry’s press office denied claims that the European Integration Directorate would be abolished, stating instead that ‘as a result of the reform, a Political Directorate for European Affairs will be created, which will merge the departments of Europe and European Integration’.

The statement added that within the European Integration Department, four divisions will be established ‘to serve the country’s EU integration agenda’, and noted that ‘the creation of the directorate will further support effective coordination of relations with European countries in pursuit of these goals’.

No further details were provided in the note.

However, in a comment given to RFE/RL, Botchorshvili denied that the aim of the process is to dismiss staff.

‘If I had wanted to fire employees, I would’ve done so already. Wait until the process is complete — then count how many I let go, how many I brought in, and how many I kept’, she said.

Reports of dismissals

Staff dismissals from various ministries had already been underway even before reports began to circulate around the Foreign Ministry.

According to an April report by the local anti-corruption organisation Transparency International — Georgia (TI), around 700 civil servants have been dismissed from a variety of agencies on ‘political grounds’ since December 2024.

Shortly after the petitions were published, Georgian Dream first proposed and then passed a law that simplified reorganisation processes in public institutions. In addition, ruling party leaders publicly condemned the civil servants who signed the petitions.

The report highlighted that the largest number of employees were dismissed from Georgia’s Defence Ministry, Tbilisi City Hall, the Justice House, and the Central Election Commission, among others. In addition, two entire institutions — the Parliamentary Research Centre and the Civil Service Bureau — were shut down.

According to TI Georgia, the employees who were dismissed or removed from their positions had signed protest statements against the suspension of European integration or openly expressed their critical position towards government policies’.

https://oc-media.org/tbilisi-mayor-kaladze-claims-no-city-hall-employees-have-been-dismissed-on-political-grounds/

At least two more public servants announced that they had been dismissed from their positions last week. Giorgi Kobakhidze, former secretary of Georgia’s embassy in Lithuania, wrote on social media on Thursday that he was dismissed from his position ‘for signing a joint petition’.

On the same day, Ekaterine Bendeliani, who served as the Deputy Director of the Environmental Information and Education Centre at the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture, also announced her dismissal. While Bendeliani did not specify a reason in a social media post, she referenced Article 78 of the constitution — pertaining to European and Euro-Atlantic integration — whose significance the public servants have underscored in their public petitions.

Since Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze’s announcement that the government would be halting the country’s EU accession bid in November 2024, Georgians across the country have held daily protests.

Human rights activists in Georgia have suggested that more than 400 demonstrators may have been detained during November and December alone — a large number of whom claim that they were subjected to physical or psychological abuse by law enforcement officers.

Fired for speaking out — the ‘cleansing’ of Georgia’s civil service

Dozens of civil servants have been dismissed after speaking out against the halting of Georgia’s EU membership process.

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