Foreign Minister Botchorishvili addresses Washington Ministerial on Resurgence of Political Terrorism

Georgia’s Vice-Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Maka Botchorishvili, has addressed delegates in Washington, D.C., at the ministerial meeting on “The Resurgence of Political Terrorism”, following an invitation from US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

In her address, the Foreign Minister emphasised that placing the issue of political terrorism on the international agenda is of paramount importance against the backdrop of contemporary security challenges.

“This discussion could not be more timely as we face complex and evolving challenges that directly affect our national interests, sovereignty, and security. Around the world, radical groups operate under different ideological banners, including, at times, in the name of democracy. Yet their objective is not to strengthen democratic institutions, but to weaken them. This threat becomes even more serious when political actors without a democratic mandate are sustained through foreign funding and external support,” Botchorishvili stated.

The Minister noted that Georgia serves as a stark illustration of these challenges, having faced numerous attempts to weaken its democratic framework in recent years.

“Georgia’s experience provides a compelling example of this challenge. Over the past several years, we have witnessed repeated attempts to polarise our society and undermine our democratic institutions under different pretexts. We have seen coordinated campaigns aimed at discrediting state institutions, including the judiciary, the electoral system, and other constitutional bodies. We have also witnessed attempts by radical groups to use violence and acts of sabotage as a political instrument,” the Vice-Prime Minister remarked.

Maka Botchorishvili also spoke about the risks of international bodies being exploited for political ends, warning that such actions damage both interstate relations and the credibility of the international organisations themselves.

“Equally concerning are efforts to exploit international institutions to legitimise such actions through resolutions or other mechanisms designed to exert political pressure on sovereign states while undermining the reputation and credibility of these institutions,” the Minister noted.

“In some cases, these actions have also had broader consequences, contributing to the deterioration of relations between states and partners, weakening trust, creating unnecessary divisions within the international community,” Maka Botchorishvili added.

Concluding her speech, Botchorishvili warned that political terrorism often manifests in insidious ways, making the fight against it a shared responsibility for all democratic nations.

“This should concern all of us because political terrorism does not always appear in the most visible form. It can also emerge through intimidation, political violence, and systemic efforts to weaken democratic institutions from within. It is a challenge for every democracy committed to protecting its institutions, its sovereignty, and the will of its people,” the Foreign Minister concluded.