Kobakhidze accused opponents of sabotage due to fakes about Russian tourists.

The Prime Minister of Georgia, Irakli Kobakhidze, stated that the spread of messages about an allegedly hostile attitude towards Russian tourists is sabotage against the country itself, effectively placing the responsibility for the campaign to discredit the country's tourism sector on internal critics of the government. The opposition considered such rhetoric an attempt to label opponents negatively.

As reported by "Caucasian Knot", the Georgian special services have become interested in the campaign of fakes about persecutions of Russians. According to the state security service's statement, a disinformation campaign is being conducted against Georgia to create the impression of threats to Russian tourists on the territory of the country.

During a press conference with journalists, Irakli Kobakhidze stated that one of the platforms, owned by a country he did not name, is providing coordination of the discreditation process, and in Georgia, this is facilitated by local agents who are amplifying this campaign, Newsgeorgia reports.

"Absolutely false content is being created on social media: non-existent people claim that an unfavorable environment for Russian tourists has been created in Georgia. This has a single goal - sabotage against the country itself," Kobakhidze told journalists.

He added that the state will respond harshly to any actions it considers directed against the interests of the country.

"Anyone who engages in sabotage against their own country, who opposes the national interests of Georgia, should know that justice will catch up with them, and that is exactly how it will be, because today the state is stronger than ever. Accordingly, we will resist any attempt to act against the national interests of Georgia," the Prime Minister said.

According to him, the country's doors are open to everyone, and the authorities will make every effort to create proper conditions for every tourist in Georgia.

"This is our culture, this is our tradition, and this is what meets the economic interests of our country," Kobakhidze added.

The opposition called the attempt to accuse opponents of sabotage a weak argument

A member of the party "Georgia First" Valery Chechelashvili called the recent frequent negative discussions by the ruling party about Russophobia as indicative of their lack of political weapons and tools, and all of this is dictated by that.

"Russophobia, like any phobia, is associated with negativity. I think the "Georgian Dream" party lacks political weapons and tools, and they are trying to label their opponents with this negative label, and that is exactly what their reasoning is dictated by. This only indicates that the arsenal of political weapons in the hands of the "Georgian Dream" party is very scarce today, and accordingly, they resort to weak arguments," the politician said.

The founder of the "Center for Strategic Analysis" Nodar Kharshiladze calls the statements about sabotage and Russophobia nonsense.

"In 2008, we were just as Russophobic, Mr. Irakli, as we are today. And there were absolutely justified reasons for that. However, I will also add here that Russophobia is an exaggerated concept. Tens of thousands of Russian citizens live in Georgia today without any problems, no one shows aggression towards them. Our problem is not with the Russian people, our problem is with their imperial government and imperial policy, and just as we fought against them in 2008, we are fighting against them today," Kharshiladze said.

It should be noted that the attack by a resident of Georgia, Georgy Chigladze, on a Russian-speaking tourist caused a resonance on social media. According to one of the participants in the incident, the investigation confirmed that the girls did not splash water on the wedding guests, did not insult them, and did not damage the equipment. By August 3, the Russian citizen who was hit by Chigladze left Georgia with her friends. On August 4, Georgy Chigladze's lawyer published a recording from the hotel cameras in Telavi. The video confirms that water was splashed on the wedding participants. Back in July, AI-generated images featuring Mikhail Saakashvili and Georgy Chigladze circulated online, as noted by the fact-checking portal "Myth Detector."