Tbilisi (GBC) - On July 16, Georgian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Maka Bochorishvili participated in a ministerial meeting held in Washington, D.C., at the invitation of U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio. According to the Foreign Ministry, the meeting was dedicated to the topic of “Reactivation of Political Terrorism,” where the Minister addressed the audience.
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in her speech, the Minister emphasized that, against the backdrop of modern security challenges, placing the issue of political terrorism on the international agenda is of particular importance.
“This discussion is particularly timely, as today we are faced with complex and constantly changing challenges that directly affect our national interests, sovereignty, and security,” said Maka Bochorishvili.
The Vice Prime Minister drew attention to the risks posed by radical groups. According to him, these forces often act in the name of democracy, although their real goal is to weaken state institutions.
According to the Minister, Georgia is a vivid example of these challenges, where in recent years there have been numerous attempts to polarize society and discredit state systems:
- Coordinated campaigns: targeted actions against constitutional bodies, including the judiciary and electoral systems.
- Violence and sabotage: attempts by radical groups to use violent acts as a political tool.
In his speech, the Foreign Minister also spoke about the role of international organizations and the need to protect their reputation. According to Bochorishvili, the use of international mechanisms or resolutions for the purpose of external pressure damages both bilateral relations and the credibility of these institutions themselves.
“The use of international institutions to legitimize such actions through resolutions and other mechanisms aimed at exerting political pressure on sovereign states is no less worrying,” the minister noted.
At the end of her speech, Maka Bochorishvili noted that political terrorism often manifests itself in hidden and imperceptible forms (including intimidation and political violence), which is why the fight against it should be a common task for all democratic states.
According to Reuters, the aforementioned ministerial is aimed at mobilizing global support from the US against “far-left political terrorism.” The White House believes that these movements have so far remained beyond the attention of law enforcement agencies.
According to the agency, more than 60 countries were represented at the meeting organized by the US State Department - some of them at the level of foreign or interior ministers, and others at the level of relatively low-ranking officials.
The Trump administration has made combating far-left groups, particularly Antifa, a top priority since the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk last year. The US State Department has said that attacks by far-left actors on police, businesses and infrastructure are an ideologically driven strategy aimed at destabilizing free societies. To this end, since November last year, Washington has officially designated several European far-left and anarchist groups as terrorist organizations (FTOs).
