Reposted by Terje HellandTerje Helland @terjehelland.bsky.social · 18/08/2026🇲🇩BACK TO THE USSR. New school ritual in Transnistria, Moldova's breakaway region that no one recognizes. From Sept 1, every school week opens with the raising of its hammer-and-sickle flag and its anthem. A thread on indoctrination by decree. 1/6 14621
Terje Helland @terjehelland.bsky.social · 18/08/2026🇲🇩BACK TO THE USSR. New school ritual in Transnistria, Moldova's breakaway region that no one recognizes. From Sept 1, every school week opens with the raising of its hammer-and-sickle flag and its anthem. A thread on indoctrination by decree. 1/6 14621
Reposted by Terje HellandTerje Helland @terjehelland.bsky.social · 08/08/2026🇬🇪18 years ago today, Russian tanks rolled into Georgia. The war lasted five days. Its consequences are still unfolding, from Crimea to Bucha. The West's lack of response in Aug 2008 taught Putin the century's most expensive lesson - aggression against neighbors is cost-free 1/9 17747
Terje Helland @terjehelland.bsky.social · 08/08/2026🇬🇪18 years ago today, Russian tanks rolled into Georgia. The war lasted five days. Its consequences are still unfolding, from Crimea to Bucha. The West's lack of response in Aug 2008 taught Putin the century's most expensive lesson - aggression against neighbors is cost-free 1/9 17747
Terje Helland @terjehelland.bsky.social · 29/07/2026🇬🇪The U.S. and the EU Must Wake Up to Threats in Georgia at www.justsecurity.org/149941/u-s-e...justsecurity.orgThe U.S. and the EU Must Wake Up to Threats in GeorgiaGeorgian Dream is crushing civil society, courts, and opposition to entrench one-party rule and Russian influence; only fast U.S.-EU sanctions can stop it. 15927
Terje Helland @terjehelland.bsky.social · 29/07/2026🇬🇪In 2025 Tbilisi court fined a woman 2,500 GEL (800 EUR) for a rude Facebook comment about Interior Ministry lawyer Tamta Kimbarishvili. A year later Georgian Dream put Kimbarishvili in charge of a new ministry unit that hunts Facebook comments. 1/9 23918
Terje Helland @terjehelland.bsky.social · 23/07/2026🇲🇩Yesterday I walked around Tiraspol, Moldova's second largest city, which Chișinău does not control. In the bookshop, portraits of Putin and Stalin hang side by side for sale. Price: 18 rubles 50. In a currency no country recognizes. A field report from Transnistria.🧵 1/12 511245
Terje Helland @terjehelland.bsky.social · 21/07/2026🇲🇩Spent today in Comrat, capital of Gagauzia, Moldova's autonomous south. In the regional history museum, Governor Evghenia Guțul's official portrait still hangs as Bașkan. She has been in prison since March 2025. Here is a field report from Europe's strangest autonomy. 1/14 13611
Terje Helland @terjehelland.bsky.social · 15/07/2026🇬🇪Georgia's ruling party, Georgian Dream (GD), is staging a show trial to imprison the leaders of every major opposition party at once. It is called the "sabotage case". Sentences run up to 15 years. The outcome is predetermined. ‼️We must act before the verdicts land. 1/17 310248
Terje Helland @terjehelland.bsky.social · 14/07/2026🇬🇪RECOMMENDED. Civic Council of Georgia has launched a new accountability tool and information bank on Georgia. It documents the individuals behind Georgian Dream's repression, entry by entry, from public sources. It is a new project. It needs eyes and follows. Please help. 1/4 13619
Terje Helland @terjehelland.bsky.social · 14/07/2026🇲🇩Moldova's government collapsed on July 3. Eight days later, President Sandu nominated Vasile Tofan as Prime Minister. An investor who built his career backing Ukrainian and Moldovan companies now has 15 days to win parliament's confidence. #Moldova 1/8 23516
Reposted by Terje HellandTerje Helland @terjehelland.bsky.social · 09/07/2026🇬🇪Human Rights Watch just published its Georgia report. It is devastating for the illegitimate Georgian Dream anti-EU government. Georgian Dream is dismantling independent civil society through law, prosecution and financial strangulation. hrw.org/news/2026/07... 1/8hrw.orgGeorgia: New Laws Devastate Independent Civic GroupsGeorgian authorities’ use of increasingly repressive laws and politically motivated criminal investigations is decimating independent civil society and silencing critical voices, Human Rights Watch sa... 48238
Terje Helland @terjehelland.bsky.social · 09/07/2026🇬🇪Human Rights Watch just published its Georgia report. It is devastating for the illegitimate Georgian Dream anti-EU government. Georgian Dream is dismantling independent civil society through law, prosecution and financial strangulation. hrw.org/news/2026/07... 1/8hrw.orgGeorgia: New Laws Devastate Independent Civic GroupsGeorgian authorities’ use of increasingly repressive laws and politically motivated criminal investigations is decimating independent civil society and silencing critical voices, Human Rights Watch sa... 48238
Terje Helland @terjehelland.bsky.social · 08/07/2026🇬🇪Parliamentarians from 57 OSCE states have adopted a resolution on Georgia in The Hague. It calls on governments to withhold recognition of any Georgian election result not certified as free and fair by credible observers. Non-recognition is now formal OSCE PA @euosce.bsky.socialpolicy 1/7 15631
Terje Helland @terjehelland.bsky.social · 07/07/2026🇬🇪🇪🇺Marika is one of the sharpest analysts working on Georgia and the wider region. She has done the reporting from the streets of Tbilisi and the research to back it up. If your institution covers EU enlargement or hybrid threats, contact her. She will raise your output. 0245
Reposted by Terje HellandTerje Helland @terjehelland.bsky.social · 03/07/2026🇲🇩On June 15, the EU formally opened accession negotiations with Moldova. Exactly one month earlier, Putin signed a decree fast-tracking Russian citizenship for residents of Transnistria. Europe's fastest-moving EU candidate is also Russia's most active hybrid target. 1/10 611851
Reposted by Terje HellandGeorge Melashvili 🇬🇪🇺🇦 @mel.ge · 03/07/2026Peter Fischer was the rare kind of diplomat: one who defended a friendship rather than merely managed a relationship. My latest for @ocmedia.bsky.social is a farewell to the outgoing German Ambassador & Germany's quiet, steadfast support for Georgia's European path. 🇩🇪🇬🇪 oc-media.org/opinion-sayi...oc-media.orgOpinion | Saying farewell to Georgia’s steadfast supporter, German Ambassador Peter FischerGermany’s friendship with Georgia began long before Fischer, and will outlive the Georgian Dream government now bent on rejecting it. 0167
Terje Helland @terjehelland.bsky.social · 03/07/2026🇲🇩On June 15, the EU formally opened accession negotiations with Moldova. Exactly one month earlier, Putin signed a decree fast-tracking Russian citizenship for residents of Transnistria. Europe's fastest-moving EU candidate is also Russia's most active hybrid target. 1/10 611851
Reposted by Terje HellandTerje Helland @terjehelland.bsky.social · 27/05/2026🇬🇪 ATTENTION. Self-proclaimed PM Irakli Kobakhidze called former MP Giorgi Kandelaki "a formula of treason" and signaled state prosecution. His offense? Co-authoring a Hudson Institute report on Iran's grip on Georgia. In Georgian Dream's Georgia, this is not rhetoric. 1/10 26926
Terje Helland @terjehelland.bsky.social · 27/05/2026🇬🇪 ATTENTION. Self-proclaimed PM Irakli Kobakhidze called former MP Giorgi Kandelaki "a formula of treason" and signaled state prosecution. His offense? Co-authoring a Hudson Institute report on Iran's grip on Georgia. In Georgian Dream's Georgia, this is not rhetoric. 1/10 26926
Reposted by Terje HellandTerje Helland @terjehelland.bsky.social · 26/05/2026🇬🇪🇬🇧 UK just sanctioned 18 entities in Russia's sanctions evasion machinery. 3 are Georgian companies! More than any other country outside Russia. Alongside Russian oligarchs and the Kyrgyz infrastructure behind the A7 network. Georgia remains a haven for sanctions evasion. 1/12 17539
Terje Helland @terjehelland.bsky.social · 26/05/2026🇬🇪🇬🇧 UK just sanctioned 18 entities in Russia's sanctions evasion machinery. 3 are Georgian companies! More than any other country outside Russia. Alongside Russian oligarchs and the Kyrgyz infrastructure behind the A7 network. Georgia remains a haven for sanctions evasion. 1/12 17539
Reposted by Terje HellandJelger Groeneveld @jelgerg.bsky.social · 25/05/2026Georgian Dream effectively admits the fake job creation was part of election mobilization: the program for social vulnerables to provide them with fake jobs for social assistance has been abolished as it "served its purpose" (and is too expensive to keep up). batumelebi.netgazeti.ge/articles-in-...batumelebi.netgazeti.geScheme Long Linked by Batumelebi to Pre-Election Mobilisation Now Admitted as “Fictitious Employment” by Kobakhidze - BatumelebiElections 2024 • Georgian Dream • Irakli Kobakhidze • Social Issues • 1158
Reposted by Terje HellandTerje Helland @terjehelland.bsky.social · 18/05/2026🇬🇪🇺🇦My new Substack: terjehelland1.substack.com/p/the-two-gi... 04213
Terje Helland @terjehelland.bsky.social · 23/05/2026🇬🇪Georgian Dream is not EU-skeptic. GD runs a calculated campaign to ensure Georgia never qualifies, never progresses, and never joins the EU. The anti-EU rhetoric is now the strategy itself. The last three weeks make that very visible. 👇 1/13 📷 Civil 27831
Terje Helland @terjehelland.bsky.social · 19/05/2026🇬🇪Open letter, meet open record. PM Kobakhidze writes to von der Leyen, Costa and Metsola to lecture the EU on police violence in Copenhagen. Peaceful protesters beaten with batons, set on by dogs he claims. Then read what his own police do, and never answer for. 1/13 👇🧵 25525
Terje Helland @terjehelland.bsky.social · 18/05/2026🇬🇪🇺🇦My new Substack: terjehelland1.substack.com/p/the-two-gi... 04213
Reposted by Terje HellandTerje Helland @terjehelland.bsky.social · 15/05/2026🇬🇪🇺🇦Georgian Dream wants one gift from the West: recognition. GD does not want the gift Kyiv just offered: friendship. The Yerevan handshake between Zelensky and Georgian PM Kobakhidze was not normalization. It was a strategic trap. Here's why GD secretly hates this opening. 1/15 37437
Terje Helland @terjehelland.bsky.social · 17/05/2026🇬🇪🇺🇦The Two Gifts - my new Substack open.substack.com/pub/terjehel... 13711
Terje Helland @terjehelland.bsky.social · 16/05/2026🇬🇪🇺🇸The Trump family recently signed Georgia's tallest building. Their local partner is a former Georgian Dream MP whom US lawmakers flagged as a regime financier. The deal lands while Bidzina Ivanishvili, GD's founder, sits under active US sanctions. thedailybeast.com/trumps-sign-... 1/6thedailybeast.comTrumps Sign Mega Tower Deal With Firm Tied to Sanctioned Pro-Putin BillionaireThe Trump Organization is moving into the Kremlin’s backyard. 46941
Terje Helland @terjehelland.bsky.social · 15/05/2026🇬🇪🇺🇦Georgian Dream wants one gift from the West: recognition. GD does not want the gift Kyiv just offered: friendship. The Yerevan handshake between Zelensky and Georgian PM Kobakhidze was not normalization. It was a strategic trap. Here's why GD secretly hates this opening. 1/15 37437
Reposted by Terje HellandTerje Helland @terjehelland.bsky.social · 14/04/2026Only one outcome is acceptable: elections organised and monitored internationally, outside Georgian Dream's control. Anything GD organises itself is not an election. It is a formality designed to legitimate theft. 11/11 19723
Terje Helland @terjehelland.bsky.social · 14/04/2026🇬🇪🇭🇺Hungary under Orbán shows that a heavily rigged electoral system can still be contested. Georgian opposition is right to study it. But the comparison only holds if you understand precisely how different the Georgian reality is. 1/11 410439
Terje Helland @terjehelland.bsky.social · 13/04/2026🇬🇪🇭🇺Viktor Orbán lost Hungary's election yesterday. For most Europeans, this is a relief. For Georgian Dream, it is a strategic catastrophe. Their single most important protector in Europe is gone. Here's what that actually means. 1/6 4305125
Terje Helland @terjehelland.bsky.social · 03/04/2026🇬🇪Georgian Dream just got the Rubio call they've begged for since Jan. 2025. Highest-level US-Georgia contact in years. Kobakhidzes propaganda called it a "reset." Moscow and Tehran will not accept this. Here's why that matters more than the call itself. 1/19 14119
Terje Helland @terjehelland.bsky.social · 30/03/2026🇬🇪This March, Georgian Dream completes its transition to a legal dictatorship. Not a coup. Not a crackdown. A methodical dismantling of every check on power, done in plain sight while the West watches and does "nothing". Georgia has not backslid. It has crossed a threshold. 1/19 513064
Terje Helland @terjehelland.bsky.social · 16/03/2026🇬🇪The persistence of the Georgian public and the unified opposition is starting to pay off. Domestic non-recognition and international isolation are driving Georgian Dream crazy and weakening the regime. 512338
Reposted by Terje HellandTerje Helland @terjehelland.bsky.social · 12/03/2026🇬🇪The OSCE’s Moscow Mechanism report on Georgia is out. It is one of the most serious international assessments of the country’s democratic trajectory in years. Here are the key findings policymakers should understand ⬇️ 1/21 15731
Terje Helland @terjehelland.bsky.social · 12/03/2026🇬🇪The OSCE’s Moscow Mechanism report on Georgia is out. It is one of the most serious international assessments of the country’s democratic trajectory in years. Here are the key findings policymakers should understand ⬇️ 1/21 15731
Terje Helland @terjehelland.bsky.social · 05/03/2026🇬🇪🇮🇷 "Iranian officials describe Georgia as a favorable route for exporting Iranian goods to the European Union." thehill.com/opinion/inte... 13522
Terje Helland @terjehelland.bsky.social · 28/02/2026🇮🇷I respect those who defend international law. The UN Charter does not permit war for regime change. That principle matters. But let’s not pretend this is a binary moral equation. 1/3 14413
Reposted by Terje HellandTerje Helland @terjehelland.bsky.social · 27/02/2026🇬🇪🇬🇧Breaking: The “Political Council” of Georgian Dream has decided that when the UK sanctions two propaganda outlets, the appropriate response is an unhinged attack on its pro-Western political opponents. 1/9 35926
Terje Helland @terjehelland.bsky.social · 27/02/2026🇬🇪🇬🇧Breaking: The “Political Council” of Georgian Dream has decided that when the UK sanctions two propaganda outlets, the appropriate response is an unhinged attack on its pro-Western political opponents. 1/9 35926
Reposted by Terje Hellandwill neal @willneal.bsky.social · 24/02/2026This morning, the UK sanctioned Georgia’s largest broadcaster, Imedi TV. No media organization has done more to amplify the regime’s anti-Western propaganda amid the war on Ukraine, or to rationalize Georgia’s descent into violent authoritarianism. 1/9 1205
Reposted by Terje HellandMarika Mikiashvili 🇬🇪🇺🇦🇪🇺 @marikamikiashvili.bsky.social · 24/02/2026Georgian Dream MP Viktor Japaridze (right) who held 52% of POSTV shares, also narrowly escaped sanctions (for now) by registering the shares under someone else just days ago. A short while ago, Irakli Rukhadze (right) also sold his Imedi TV standings for GEL 1,000 / ~ EUR 320. 03312
Reposted by Terje HellandHans Gutbrod @hansgutbrod.bsky.social · 16/02/2026I do not think I am promising too much if I say that this story will blow your mind -- how esoteric numerology with bizarro claims about Aryan, Chaldeans and Mesopotamia gives you a surprisingly accurate insight of how to understand #Georgia today. open.substack.com/pub/ganatleb...open.substack.comQuackery with a University Logo: How Bizarre Numerology Offers a Surprisingly Accurate Glimpse of Contemporatory GeorgiaWhile the Georgian Dream systematically dismantles the country’s leading universities, it greenlights degrees in “Astrolinguistics” at Bidzina Ivanishvili’s flagship Kutaisi International University. 2219
Terje Helland @terjehelland.bsky.social · 13/02/2026🇬🇪🇩🇪A long read - but worth your time. In his interview, German Ambassador to Georgia, Peter Fischer, is refreshingly direct about Georgia’s crisis and Germany’s position. 1/4 www.interpressnews.ge/en/article/1...interpressnews.gePeter Fischer - We are not regime change agents, we don't care who governs Georgia 16321
Reposted by Terje HellandMarika Mikiashvili 🇬🇪🇺🇦🇪🇺 @marikamikiashvili.bsky.social · 12/02/2026BRIEF SUMMARY ON THE NEW STAGE OF ASSAULT IN 🇬🇪👇🏻 The Georgian Dream wants to speed-run in a gamble, they know that their medium-term is brittle. They no longer care about any popularity, they only care about subjugation through disorganization, managed poverty, and emigration. 1/ 📷 @reuters.com 18835
Terje Helland @terjehelland.bsky.social · 12/02/2026🇬🇪Georgian Dream joins Tehran’s mullahs in celebrating the Islamic Revolution, honoring a request from the Iranian Embassy to light up Tbilisi’s TV tower in the colors of the Iranian flag. The same regime has killed thousands of its own people. This is what GD chooses to support. 34412
Reposted by Terje HellandMarika Mikiashvili 🇬🇪🇺🇦🇪🇺 @marikamikiashvili.bsky.social · 11/02/2026Georgia, the most persistent civic resistance in contemporary Europe, needs one key ingredient — a viable political alternative. In the absence of a dominant, that means some form of unity among democratic parties. Such an alternative would swing the process in several ways: 🧵 410444