Terje Helland
@terjehelland.bsky.social
Geopolitics. Generous with compliments. Dedicated to helping others. Consultant. Communication. Rhetoric. Politics. Media.
https://buymeacoffee.com/terjehelland
https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/TerjeHelland
ENcouncil.org
https://buymeacoffee.com/terjehelland
https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/TerjeHelland
ENcouncil.org
Reposted by Terje Helland
A very important study on Russia sanctions evasion by the Georgian Dream regime (a Russian proxy in Georgia).
fpc.org.uk/dealing-with...
fpc.org.uk/dealing-with...
October 29, 2025 at 2:13 PM
A very important study on Russia sanctions evasion by the Georgian Dream regime (a Russian proxy in Georgia).
fpc.org.uk/dealing-with...
fpc.org.uk/dealing-with...
🇬🇪Over the past three years, Georgia has transformed from a fragile democracy into a Russian-aligned kleptocracy.
The ruling party, Georgian Dream (GD), isn’t just authoritarian-it’s financially desperate.
Everything it does now revolves around one thing: cash.
1/18
The ruling party, Georgian Dream (GD), isn’t just authoritarian-it’s financially desperate.
Everything it does now revolves around one thing: cash.
1/18
October 27, 2025 at 7:12 AM
🇬🇪Over the past three years, Georgia has transformed from a fragile democracy into a Russian-aligned kleptocracy.
The ruling party, Georgian Dream (GD), isn’t just authoritarian-it’s financially desperate.
Everything it does now revolves around one thing: cash.
1/18
The ruling party, Georgian Dream (GD), isn’t just authoritarian-it’s financially desperate.
Everything it does now revolves around one thing: cash.
1/18
🇬🇪A year ago, I stood in Tbilisi and saw it with my own eyes – the opposition won the 2024 election.
Edison exit polls showed Georgian Dream losing badly. Yet GD fabricated a 54% “victory,” has since arrested the very politicians who defeated them, and now prepares to ban their parties altogether.
Edison exit polls showed Georgian Dream losing badly. Yet GD fabricated a 54% “victory,” has since arrested the very politicians who defeated them, and now prepares to ban their parties altogether.
October 26, 2025 at 4:17 PM
🇬🇪A year ago, I stood in Tbilisi and saw it with my own eyes – the opposition won the 2024 election.
Edison exit polls showed Georgian Dream losing badly. Yet GD fabricated a 54% “victory,” has since arrested the very politicians who defeated them, and now prepares to ban their parties altogether.
Edison exit polls showed Georgian Dream losing badly. Yet GD fabricated a 54% “victory,” has since arrested the very politicians who defeated them, and now prepares to ban their parties altogether.
Reposted by Terje Helland
It’s been hard 24h for Georgians. Grave mistakes were made. Yesterday, Georgia lost a battle against Russian takeover - but the fight for freedom &democracy continues. If there’s one thing yst proved, it’s that resistance hasnt disappeared. They tried to bury us. They didn’t know we were seeds. 1/12
October 5, 2025 at 4:31 PM
It’s been hard 24h for Georgians. Grave mistakes were made. Yesterday, Georgia lost a battle against Russian takeover - but the fight for freedom &democracy continues. If there’s one thing yst proved, it’s that resistance hasnt disappeared. They tried to bury us. They didn’t know we were seeds. 1/12
🇬🇪Georgia’s Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) might sound like a graft-busting agency, but under Razhden Kuprashvili it has become a political weapon.
Georgian Dream is using it to wage a repressive crackdown on civil society, silencing NGOs and opposition voices.
1/13
Georgian Dream is using it to wage a repressive crackdown on civil society, silencing NGOs and opposition voices.
1/13
September 27, 2025 at 12:49 PM
🇬🇪Georgia’s Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) might sound like a graft-busting agency, but under Razhden Kuprashvili it has become a political weapon.
Georgian Dream is using it to wage a repressive crackdown on civil society, silencing NGOs and opposition voices.
1/13
Georgian Dream is using it to wage a repressive crackdown on civil society, silencing NGOs and opposition voices.
1/13
Reposted by Terje Helland
🇺🇸🇬🇪 Oklahomans! In 2020, Sen Mullin warned that Georgia’s ruling party was tied to Russia, Iran, and hostile actors.
Today, as a US Senator, he is blocking the bipartisan #MEGOBARIAct- thus protecting the very regime he once called a threat.
What happened?
1/7
Today, as a US Senator, he is blocking the bipartisan #MEGOBARIAct- thus protecting the very regime he once called a threat.
What happened?
1/7
September 1, 2025 at 11:35 AM
🇺🇸🇬🇪 Oklahomans! In 2020, Sen Mullin warned that Georgia’s ruling party was tied to Russia, Iran, and hostile actors.
Today, as a US Senator, he is blocking the bipartisan #MEGOBARIAct- thus protecting the very regime he once called a threat.
What happened?
1/7
Today, as a US Senator, he is blocking the bipartisan #MEGOBARIAct- thus protecting the very regime he once called a threat.
What happened?
1/7
Reposted by Terje Helland
🇺🇸🇬🇪 Oklahomans! In 2020, Sen Mullin warned that Georgia’s ruling party was tied to Russia, Iran, and hostile actors.
Today, as a US Senator, he is blocking the bipartisan #MEGOBARIAct- thus protecting the very regime he once called a threat.
What happened?
1/7
Today, as a US Senator, he is blocking the bipartisan #MEGOBARIAct- thus protecting the very regime he once called a threat.
What happened?
1/7
September 1, 2025 at 11:35 AM
🇺🇸🇬🇪 Oklahomans! In 2020, Sen Mullin warned that Georgia’s ruling party was tied to Russia, Iran, and hostile actors.
Today, as a US Senator, he is blocking the bipartisan #MEGOBARIAct- thus protecting the very regime he once called a threat.
What happened?
1/7
Today, as a US Senator, he is blocking the bipartisan #MEGOBARIAct- thus protecting the very regime he once called a threat.
What happened?
1/7
Reposted by Terje Helland
🇬🇪Georgia’s paradox: a government despised by its people, yet firmly in power.
Ivanishvili’s Georgian Dream survives not through popularity, but by fusing repression, economic dependency, and rigged institutions.
🧵In this thread I try to explain this paradox.
1/16
Ivanishvili’s Georgian Dream survives not through popularity, but by fusing repression, economic dependency, and rigged institutions.
🧵In this thread I try to explain this paradox.
1/16
August 28, 2025 at 7:35 PM
🇬🇪Georgia’s paradox: a government despised by its people, yet firmly in power.
Ivanishvili’s Georgian Dream survives not through popularity, but by fusing repression, economic dependency, and rigged institutions.
🧵In this thread I try to explain this paradox.
1/16
Ivanishvili’s Georgian Dream survives not through popularity, but by fusing repression, economic dependency, and rigged institutions.
🧵In this thread I try to explain this paradox.
1/16
🇬🇪Georgia’s paradox: a government despised by its people, yet firmly in power.
Ivanishvili’s Georgian Dream survives not through popularity, but by fusing repression, economic dependency, and rigged institutions.
🧵In this thread I try to explain this paradox.
1/16
Ivanishvili’s Georgian Dream survives not through popularity, but by fusing repression, economic dependency, and rigged institutions.
🧵In this thread I try to explain this paradox.
1/16
August 28, 2025 at 7:35 PM
🇬🇪Georgia’s paradox: a government despised by its people, yet firmly in power.
Ivanishvili’s Georgian Dream survives not through popularity, but by fusing repression, economic dependency, and rigged institutions.
🧵In this thread I try to explain this paradox.
1/16
Ivanishvili’s Georgian Dream survives not through popularity, but by fusing repression, economic dependency, and rigged institutions.
🧵In this thread I try to explain this paradox.
1/16
🇬🇪Georgia is suffocating under Putin’s Trojan Horse
Georgian Dream.
Bidzina Ivanishvili’s Georgian Dream has turned a pro-European nation into a captured state.
The West is still looking away. It’s time to act - and sanctions are the key.
1/16
Georgian Dream.
Bidzina Ivanishvili’s Georgian Dream has turned a pro-European nation into a captured state.
The West is still looking away. It’s time to act - and sanctions are the key.
1/16
August 26, 2025 at 11:39 AM
🇬🇪Georgia is suffocating under Putin’s Trojan Horse
Georgian Dream.
Bidzina Ivanishvili’s Georgian Dream has turned a pro-European nation into a captured state.
The West is still looking away. It’s time to act - and sanctions are the key.
1/16
Georgian Dream.
Bidzina Ivanishvili’s Georgian Dream has turned a pro-European nation into a captured state.
The West is still looking away. It’s time to act - and sanctions are the key.
1/16
Reposted by Terje Helland
22 Georgian online media outlets have united in this fight, and you can all support them:
From Abroad: www.gofundme.com/f/help-media...
Campaign: sinatle.media
Donation from Georgia:
TBC Bank: #GE76TB7548536080100013
Bank of Georgia: #GE06BG0000000609779465
Recipient: “ხალხის წყარო”
From Abroad: www.gofundme.com/f/help-media...
Campaign: sinatle.media
Donation from Georgia:
TBC Bank: #GE76TB7548536080100013
Bank of Georgia: #GE06BG0000000609779465
Recipient: “ხალხის წყარო”
August 22, 2025 at 7:23 PM
22 Georgian online media outlets have united in this fight, and you can all support them:
From Abroad: www.gofundme.com/f/help-media...
Campaign: sinatle.media
Donation from Georgia:
TBC Bank: #GE76TB7548536080100013
Bank of Georgia: #GE06BG0000000609779465
Recipient: “ხალხის წყარო”
From Abroad: www.gofundme.com/f/help-media...
Campaign: sinatle.media
Donation from Georgia:
TBC Bank: #GE76TB7548536080100013
Bank of Georgia: #GE06BG0000000609779465
Recipient: “ხალხის წყარო”
🇬🇪Why is Georgian Dream surviving despite mass protests, backlash, and international condemnation?
The answer isn’t repression alone. It’s money.
🧵A thread on how Bidzina Ivanishvili’s fortune and Russian inflows saved his regime - and why it’s still may crack.
1/16
The answer isn’t repression alone. It’s money.
🧵A thread on how Bidzina Ivanishvili’s fortune and Russian inflows saved his regime - and why it’s still may crack.
1/16
August 21, 2025 at 3:53 PM
🇬🇪Why is Georgian Dream surviving despite mass protests, backlash, and international condemnation?
The answer isn’t repression alone. It’s money.
🧵A thread on how Bidzina Ivanishvili’s fortune and Russian inflows saved his regime - and why it’s still may crack.
1/16
The answer isn’t repression alone. It’s money.
🧵A thread on how Bidzina Ivanishvili’s fortune and Russian inflows saved his regime - and why it’s still may crack.
1/16
Reposted by Terje Helland
🇬🇪Georgia is undergoing a political transformation - but not towards the future we all want.
The extremist ruling party, Georgian Dream, has evolved into a demagogic, anti-Western machine, deploying propaganda and laws that echo the darkest chapters of the 20th century.
1/17
The extremist ruling party, Georgian Dream, has evolved into a demagogic, anti-Western machine, deploying propaganda and laws that echo the darkest chapters of the 20th century.
1/17
August 9, 2025 at 5:32 PM
🇬🇪Georgia is undergoing a political transformation - but not towards the future we all want.
The extremist ruling party, Georgian Dream, has evolved into a demagogic, anti-Western machine, deploying propaganda and laws that echo the darkest chapters of the 20th century.
1/17
The extremist ruling party, Georgian Dream, has evolved into a demagogic, anti-Western machine, deploying propaganda and laws that echo the darkest chapters of the 20th century.
1/17
Reposted by Terje Helland
Before Bucha, there was Abkhazia. On August 14, 1992, Russia 🇷🇺 and Russian-backed forces attacked Georgia 🇬🇪, starting a war that led to the ethnic cleansing and displacement of over 200,000 Georgians and an ongoing occupation — the same imperialist crimes seen in Ukraine today.
August 14, 2025 at 7:12 AM
Before Bucha, there was Abkhazia. On August 14, 1992, Russia 🇷🇺 and Russian-backed forces attacked Georgia 🇬🇪, starting a war that led to the ethnic cleansing and displacement of over 200,000 Georgians and an ongoing occupation — the same imperialist crimes seen in Ukraine today.
🇬🇪Georgia is not drifting into authoritarianism. It is being steered there.
My new Substack:
terjehelland1.substack.com/p/georgias-d...
My new Substack:
terjehelland1.substack.com/p/georgias-d...
Georgia’s Democracy on Life Support
Georgia’s authoritarian turn is no accident: The Laws, The Propaganda, The Stakes
open.substack.com
August 10, 2025 at 7:51 PM
🇬🇪Georgia is not drifting into authoritarianism. It is being steered there.
My new Substack:
terjehelland1.substack.com/p/georgias-d...
My new Substack:
terjehelland1.substack.com/p/georgias-d...
🇬🇪Georgia is undergoing a political transformation - but not towards the future we all want.
The extremist ruling party, Georgian Dream, has evolved into a demagogic, anti-Western machine, deploying propaganda and laws that echo the darkest chapters of the 20th century.
1/17
The extremist ruling party, Georgian Dream, has evolved into a demagogic, anti-Western machine, deploying propaganda and laws that echo the darkest chapters of the 20th century.
1/17
August 9, 2025 at 5:32 PM
🇬🇪Georgia is undergoing a political transformation - but not towards the future we all want.
The extremist ruling party, Georgian Dream, has evolved into a demagogic, anti-Western machine, deploying propaganda and laws that echo the darkest chapters of the 20th century.
1/17
The extremist ruling party, Georgian Dream, has evolved into a demagogic, anti-Western machine, deploying propaganda and laws that echo the darkest chapters of the 20th century.
1/17
Reposted by Terje Helland
🚨NEW: Latest for @bylinetimes.bsky.social with Josimar's Paul Brown, on how an Israeli tycoon, a shady Miami investment group, and a UK firm controlled by enablers of the Georgian regime became embroiled in a £1bn legal spat between powerful Russian business interests. 1/13
👉 shorturl.at/8hHYG
👉 shorturl.at/8hHYG
Mystery at the Heart of £1 Billion UK Legal Offensive Against Top Putin Ally
A sanctioned former Kremlin politician was sued for shares in his multi-billion-dollar fertiliser company. But why did a trio of companies with links to Russian interests in football get involved?
shorturl.at
July 30, 2025 at 4:29 PM
🚨NEW: Latest for @bylinetimes.bsky.social with Josimar's Paul Brown, on how an Israeli tycoon, a shady Miami investment group, and a UK firm controlled by enablers of the Georgian regime became embroiled in a £1bn legal spat between powerful Russian business interests. 1/13
👉 shorturl.at/8hHYG
👉 shorturl.at/8hHYG
🇬🇪Just listened to @marikamikiashvili.bsky.social on Talk Georgia - an insightful, sharp, and deeply inspiring voice.
Few Georgians have done more to inform and engage Western audiences about what’s really happening in Georgia than Marika.
Highly recommended.
👏🇬🇪 👇
www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2fO...
Few Georgians have done more to inform and engage Western audiences about what’s really happening in Georgia than Marika.
Highly recommended.
👏🇬🇪 👇
www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2fO...
June 27, 2025 at 9:48 AM
🇬🇪Just listened to @marikamikiashvili.bsky.social on Talk Georgia - an insightful, sharp, and deeply inspiring voice.
Few Georgians have done more to inform and engage Western audiences about what’s really happening in Georgia than Marika.
Highly recommended.
👏🇬🇪 👇
www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2fO...
Few Georgians have done more to inform and engage Western audiences about what’s really happening in Georgia than Marika.
Highly recommended.
👏🇬🇪 👇
www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2fO...
🇬🇪I’ve just sent a letter to APF (L’Assemblée parlementaire de la Francophonie) urging them to cut ties with Tea Tsulukiani, a central architects of Georgia’s dictatorial crackdown.
She’s not just a participant. She’s a key enforcer.
Engaging with her legitimizes repression.
Please help amplify.
She’s not just a participant. She’s a key enforcer.
Engaging with her legitimizes repression.
Please help amplify.
June 26, 2025 at 7:38 PM
🇬🇪I’ve just sent a letter to APF (L’Assemblée parlementaire de la Francophonie) urging them to cut ties with Tea Tsulukiani, a central architects of Georgia’s dictatorial crackdown.
She’s not just a participant. She’s a key enforcer.
Engaging with her legitimizes repression.
Please help amplify.
She’s not just a participant. She’s a key enforcer.
Engaging with her legitimizes repression.
Please help amplify.
Reposted by Terje Helland
🇬🇪A country once seen as the democratic bright spot of the post-Soviet space is now undergoing the fastest authoritarian regression in modern European history.
🧵Here’s a thread to keep you updated on what’s happening - and why it matters.
1/23
🧵Here’s a thread to keep you updated on what’s happening - and why it matters.
1/23
June 10, 2025 at 7:28 PM
🇬🇪A country once seen as the democratic bright spot of the post-Soviet space is now undergoing the fastest authoritarian regression in modern European history.
🧵Here’s a thread to keep you updated on what’s happening - and why it matters.
1/23
🧵Here’s a thread to keep you updated on what’s happening - and why it matters.
1/23
🇬🇪Democracy doesn’t collapse overnight - it dies in stages, often under legal cover. Georgia is a warning to the world: the tools of autocracy are now subtle, domestic, and dressed in law.
And this is Putin’s other kind of war - the hybrid one.
My Substack:
terjehelland1.substack.com/p/do-not-for...
And this is Putin’s other kind of war - the hybrid one.
My Substack:
terjehelland1.substack.com/p/do-not-for...
June 12, 2025 at 9:37 AM
🇬🇪Democracy doesn’t collapse overnight - it dies in stages, often under legal cover. Georgia is a warning to the world: the tools of autocracy are now subtle, domestic, and dressed in law.
And this is Putin’s other kind of war - the hybrid one.
My Substack:
terjehelland1.substack.com/p/do-not-for...
And this is Putin’s other kind of war - the hybrid one.
My Substack:
terjehelland1.substack.com/p/do-not-for...
🇬🇪A country once seen as the democratic bright spot of the post-Soviet space is now undergoing the fastest authoritarian regression in modern European history.
🧵Here’s a thread to keep you updated on what’s happening - and why it matters.
1/23
🧵Here’s a thread to keep you updated on what’s happening - and why it matters.
1/23
June 10, 2025 at 7:28 PM
🇬🇪A country once seen as the democratic bright spot of the post-Soviet space is now undergoing the fastest authoritarian regression in modern European history.
🧵Here’s a thread to keep you updated on what’s happening - and why it matters.
1/23
🧵Here’s a thread to keep you updated on what’s happening - and why it matters.
1/23
Reposted by Terje Helland
🇬🇪Another must-read from now entry-banned journalist
@willneal.bsky.social.
Read and amplify his investigation for Byline Times, exposing how Georgia is morphing into a pro-Putin mafia state—systematically dismantling democracy while courting autocratic backers.
bylinetimes.com/2025/02/26/g...
@willneal.bsky.social.
Read and amplify his investigation for Byline Times, exposing how Georgia is morphing into a pro-Putin mafia state—systematically dismantling democracy while courting autocratic backers.
bylinetimes.com/2025/02/26/g...
May 24, 2025 at 6:00 PM
🇬🇪Another must-read from now entry-banned journalist
@willneal.bsky.social.
Read and amplify his investigation for Byline Times, exposing how Georgia is morphing into a pro-Putin mafia state—systematically dismantling democracy while courting autocratic backers.
bylinetimes.com/2025/02/26/g...
@willneal.bsky.social.
Read and amplify his investigation for Byline Times, exposing how Georgia is morphing into a pro-Putin mafia state—systematically dismantling democracy while courting autocratic backers.
bylinetimes.com/2025/02/26/g...
Reposted by Terje Helland
🇧🇬🇺🇦In March 2025, a voice on the phone said: “We will bring you to your knees, swine.”
Weeks later, his family was chased on a Bulgarian highway.
🧵This isn’t fiction. It’s the true story of Svet DiNahum - a writer punished for exposing Russian lies.
1/24
Weeks later, his family was chased on a Bulgarian highway.
🧵This isn’t fiction. It’s the true story of Svet DiNahum - a writer punished for exposing Russian lies.
1/24
May 25, 2025 at 6:23 PM
🇧🇬🇺🇦In March 2025, a voice on the phone said: “We will bring you to your knees, swine.”
Weeks later, his family was chased on a Bulgarian highway.
🧵This isn’t fiction. It’s the true story of Svet DiNahum - a writer punished for exposing Russian lies.
1/24
Weeks later, his family was chased on a Bulgarian highway.
🧵This isn’t fiction. It’s the true story of Svet DiNahum - a writer punished for exposing Russian lies.
1/24