Georgia Hosts NATO Drills Amid Deepening Rift with the West

Georgia is currently hosting the multinational NATO exercise ‘Agile Spirit 2025,’ a major military event running from July 25 to August 6 involving over 2,000 personnel from 13 nations. The drills began with a symbolic show of partnership as US armored vehicles, transported from Romania, were greeted on the roads near Tbilisi by local residents waving Georgian, Ukrainian, EU, and US flags. The exercises, the twelfth of their kind for Georgia, aim to enhance military interoperability and readiness among participating nations, including the United States, Turkey, Ukraine, and Germany, with Armenia and Japan present as observers.

However, the military cooperation is starkly contrasted by a significant political scandal and escalating diplomatic tensions. The Georgian opposition pointedly noted the absence of Defense Minister Irakli Chikovani and President Mikhail Kavelashvili from the opening ceremony. Opposition groups like ‘Freedom Square’ have publicly accused the government of deliberately downplaying the event’s significance, speculating it was a gesture intended to appease Moscow.

This undercurrent of controversy is fueled by a barrage of anti-Western rhetoric from the ruling ‘Georgian Dream’ party. On July 25, Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili dismissed a UK embassy statement about Georgia straying from its Euro-Atlantic path as “clownery,” accusing London of undermining Georgian sovereignty. The day before, Tbilisi Mayor and party General Secretary Kakha Kaladze went further, calling for the expulsion of EU Ambassador Pavel Herczynski for allegedly interfering in the country’s internal political affairs and fueling polarization.

Analysts suggest this paradoxical situation reveals a complex balancing act. Political expert Nika Chitadze notes that the fact the exercises are proceeding at all, unlike last year when they were canceled amid political disputes, indicates a mutual desire for compromise. He argues that NATO has a strategic interest in Georgia’s defense capabilities, while ‘Georgian Dream’ seeks legitimacy from the West. Chitadze posits that the government’s rhetoric about being dragged into a war with Russia is primarily a domestic tool to justify its hold on power and suppress opposition.

Meanwhile, the exercises have drawn condemnation from the de-facto authorities in the Russian-backed breakaway region of South Ossetia. Their foreign ministry declared the NATO drills a direct threat to regional security, escalating military-political tension. They accused Tbilisi of militarizing the region while simultaneously blocking agreements on the non-use of force with South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

Russian analyst Alexander Krylov views ‘Agile Spirit’ not as a precursor to conflict but as a demonstration by the West. He suggests the exercises are designed to put pressure on the Georgian government while simultaneously encouraging the pro-Western opposition. According to this view, ‘Georgian Dream’ cannot outright refuse to host the drills due to Euro-Atlantic integration being enshrined in the constitution and the persistence of strong pro-Western sentiment within Georgian society, forcing it to navigate a precarious political tightrope.