With key parliamentary elections fast approaching in just over a month, and legislation on the books that can be wielded to silence government critics, authorities in Georgia have refused to let politically oriented journalists enter the country during the past week.

The recent incidents of denial of entry involve Arsen Kharatyan, founder of the independent Armenian-Georgian outlet AliQ Media, and Belarusian opposition journalist Andrei Mialeshka. 

Kharatyan, who was traveling from Luxembourg for work on September 17, was held for four hours before being sent back from Tbilisi’s International airport. Like Mialeshka, he was given a vague written explanation for the denial of entry.

While detained on September 16, Mialeshka managed to communicate with RFE/RL’s Belarusian service. Following the publication of his interview, airport staff reportedly seized his phone and laptop, accusing him of talking “too much.” Subsequently Mialeshka and his 11-year-old daughter were sent back to Poland. They had been residing in Georgia for about three years after government persecution in their native Belarus forced them to flee. 

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) issued a statement criticizing the Georgian government’s action. “Georgian authorities should allow Mialeshka and Kharatyan to enter the country and ensure that Georgia is a safe place for independent journalists,” the statement quoted Gulnoza Said, CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator, as saying. CPJ also noted that the incidents highlight a potential risk to journalists who have gained refuge in Georgia, especially Russian and Belarusian journalists who fled their countries following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, or during the anti-government protests in Belarus. 

Arsen Kharatyan is a longtime pro-democracy advocate in Armenia and has worked as an adviser for Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. He shared his experience of being denied entry to Georgia on social media, saying that despite having a ticket for a connecting flight from Tbilisi to Yerevan the next day, on September 18, he was informed that under Georgian law, he could not continue to his destination and was instead sent back to Luxembourg. 

“All these are technicalities,” Kharatyan wrote in his post. “The biggest problem here is that no one has explained why I was denied entry to Georgia, where I lived for over five years, created a media outlet, co-founded various organizations, and helped build bridges between Armenia and Georgia.”

Kharatyan also revealed that this was not the first time he encountered trouble at a Georgian airport. On September 11, he was detained for two hours after flying from Yerevan to Tbilisi. On that occasion, authorities handed him a document stating the reason for denial as “other cases provided for by Georgian legislation,” though he was ultimately permitted to enter the country.

Kharatyan believes the denial of entry was politically motivated. “By now I have no doubt that this entry denial, a.k.a. deportation, is political. This means the current Georgian authorities are either afraid of people like me, or have patrons from Moscow or Baku telling them to “clear up the space” before the [parliamentary] elections.”

Georgian opposition politician Anna Dolidze went to Tbilisi airport following the news about Kharatyan’s detention, later alleging that incumbent officials were trying to “please Moscow.”

Kharatyan’s case is the second instance of a pro-Western Armenian being banned from entering Georgia. Tigran Khzmalyan, the head of Armenia’s European Party, was prevented from entering Georgia via the land border in June this year. He was planning to spend just one day in Georgia for business meetings, as the politician explained in a Facebook post. 

Georgian authorities have not yet commented on either of the incidents.

A short time before Kharatyan’s border incident, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan was in Tbilisi September 16 on an official visit. Following the top-level meetings Pashinyan and his Georgian counterpart Irakli Kobakhidze issued statements containing no mention of the EU and the two countries’ European aspirations. Over the past year, Armenia has moved in a decidedly Western direction while de-emphasizing relations with Russia; Georgia has gone in precisely the opposite directions, away from the West and re-engaging with Moscow.

Armenia and Georgia have intensified the diplomatic relations in the past year. Presently, Armenia’s only route to Russia – which, despite Yerevan’s efforts to bolster ties with the West, remains the country’s main trading partner – runs through Georgia. In addition, the EU’s decision to grant candidate status to Georgia in late 2023 helped spur Armenia to voice its own EU accession, announcing its desire to follow Georgia’s path and apply for EU membership. Since the start of the year, Georgia has pursued a policy course that has alienated Tbilisi from the West. Armenian leaders have not publicly commented on Georgia’s about-face towards Russia.