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Intelligence Online: France Had to Recall Two Intelligence Officers From Georgia Over Spy Controversy

Civil.ge Send an email 04/06/2026 - 18:03
5 minutes read

France was forced to recall two intelligence officers stationed in Tbilisi in May after Georgian authorities uncovered recruitment of a former associate of Georgian Dream founder Bidzina Ivanishvili, French outlet Intelligence Online said June 3 report.

The report concerns Giorgi Udzilauri, a senior official at the Finance Ministry’s Investigative Service and former head of the public relations service of Ivanishvili’s Cartu Group, who was detained on May 5 on allegations of spying for what the Georgian officials described as “one of the big European countries,” without identifying it. Later, Mamuka Mdinaradze, the newly appointed State Minister for Coordination of Law Enforcement Bodies, hinted that the country in question could be France.

Intelligence Online reported that the French intelligence service DGSE (Directorate-General for External Security) had recruited Udzilauri in recent months, describing the operation as a “successful manoeuvre” that was ultimately uncovered by Georgian counterintelligence.

The outlet said that “just four days after the announcement of Udzilauri’s arrest, the Georgian government suddenly ordered Western countries to withdraw their spies operating in the country, threatening to reveal the identities of their agents in the event of refusal.” According to the publication, the DGSE complied with the demand, recalling two officers to Paris who were posted at the French Embassy in Tbilisi.

The outlet said it contacted the DGSE, which it said declined to comment on the matter, stating only that none of its officers had been declared persona non grata by the Georgian authorities. It added that neither the SSSG nor the Georgian Embassy in Paris responded to its requests for comment before publication.

According to Intelligence Online, the latest developments prompted extensive discussions between the DGSE and the SSSG. “Nicolas Lerner, director of the French service, wished for all necessary clarifications to be provided so that the bilateral dialogue, particularly important in his view with the agencies of this country, could continue on the basis discussed and agreed upon between the services,” the publication reported.

Intelligence Online suggested that Georgia’s decision not to publicly identify France may reflect “Paris’ efforts to maintain dialogue with Tbilisi” despite growing strains in bilateral relations following Georgia’s disputed 2024 parliamentary elections. The outlet described the case as “a serious blow” for French intelligence, noting that Paris considers Georgia “a prime outpost” for monitoring developments in Russia. It added that the DGSE station in Tbilisi, which closed in the late 1990s and reopened in 2003, has gained renewed importance since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Udzilauri remains in pretrial detention and denies any wrongdoing. His lawyer, Beka Guledani, told RFE/RL’s Georgian Service on June 3 that Udzilauri believes the charges are politically motivated, connected to his involvement in pro-European protests against the Georgian Dream government.

“He acknowledges that, in parallel with his work at the investigative service, he attended pro-European student protest rallies on Rustaveli twice,” Guledani told RFE/RL, adding that Udzilauri had been “warned” that his communications and movements were under surveillance but nevertheless continued meetings and communications freely.

Guledani also said that Udzilauri opposes what he called “the current government’s isolationist policy, Georgian diplomacy’s cowardly attitude towards Russia, and the justification of everything by the ‘threat of war.’”

On May 8, SSSG also released a one-minute video allegedly depicting Udzilauri at what the agency described as “a conspiracy meeting, involving the receipt of instructions, a transfer of money, and the signing of a relevant document.” The footage, subtitled in Georgian, captures a conversation in English in what appears to be an apartment, with kitchen cabinets and a wall-mounted television visible in the background.

Udzilauri and an unidentified individual, whose face has been blurred and voice altered, are seated across from each other at a table, an open laptop in front of them. In the clip, Udzilauri is seen writing on a piece of paper, before rising from his seat, wearing a jacket, folding what appears to be a white envelope and placing it in his pocket. The video ends there.

Georgia’s ‘Spy’ Arrests and Hints

Udzilauri’s case is one of four espionage investigations announced by the SSSG since April, a move away from Tbilisi’s passivity regarding espionage-related announcements.

The arrests have followed the same pattern: first, the State Security Service announces an arrest in a briefing, without naming the suspect or the foreign country they were allegedly spying for. Soon after the briefing, pro-government media outlets publish “exclusive” reports, providing more details – either the name of the suspect or the foreign country involved. More information is usually revealed during interviews or briefings with Mamuka Mdinaradze.

A series of announcements, hints, confirmations, and “exclusive” reports have revealed that since late April, SSSG has arrested:

  • Tamaz Goloev, a resident of Akhalgori district in Georgia’s occupied Tskhinvali/South Ossetia region, reportedly accused of spying for Russia. His arrest was announced on April 22;
  • Giorgi Udzilauri, a Finance Ministry official and a former associate of Georgian Dream founder Bidzina Ivanishvili, arrested on allegations of spying for a “European country”, which Mdinaradze later hinted was France. His arrest was announced on May 5;
  • Gulbaat Rtskhiladze, head of Kremlin-linked NGO Eurasia Institute, arrested on allegations of spying for two countries – reportedly Russia and Iran; his arrest was announced on May 30;
  • Irakli Chikhladze, journalist and head of the Caucasian Center for Civil Hearings, with Mdinaradze similarly hinting at allegations of spying for France. Chikhladze’s arrest was also announced on May 30, shortly after Rtskhiladze’s announcement.

Speaking at a briefing on May 8, shortly after Udzilauri’s arrest, Mamuka Mdinaradze said Udzilauri allegedly spied for “one of the big European countries.” He then addressed “those several European countries” which, he said, were “carrying out intelligence activities in our country in a heightened and intensified manner,” telling them “that the Georgian special services today possess far more information than they can imagine” and “counterintelligence operations are currently being conducted at tenfold intensity.”

Mdinaradze asked those countries to “withdraw these people, remove them from the activities they are carrying out,” warning to “provide certain further clues” otherwise.

Speaking again at a June 1 briefing after Rtskhiladze’s and Chikhladze’s arrests, Mdinaradze implied that Chikhladze was accused of “representing the resident of the so-called special service of the same country” involved in another espionage-related arrest weeks earlier, in what looked like a reference to Udzilauri.

Commenting on the arrest “weeks earlier,” Mdinaradze then said: “This was indeed followed by quite positive communication between the relevant services; however, we must emphasize that two days ago, the State Security Service detained only those individuals who, despite the warning, did not cease certain activities in the aforementioned direction even after the previous arrests.”

During the same briefing, Mdinaradze hinted at France by responding to a question from pro-government TV Imedi, which asked to confirm the reports that suspects lately arrested on espionage charges had acted on behalf of Russia, Iran, Poland, and France. Mdinaradze said he could not confirm the reports because “Poland has nothing to do with it.” 

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Civil.ge Send an email 04/06/2026 - 18:03
5 minutes read
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