Poland's foreign ministry and public broadcaster TVP have launched a Georgian-language news service aimed at combating Russian disinformation, marking Warsaw's most ambitious effort yet to project democratic values across the former Soviet space.The new service, VT Sakartvelo News, began broadcasting Monday via satellite on Belsat, a Poland-based Belarusian channel, and through a dedicated YouTube platform. "Sakartvelo" is the Georgian name for Georgia, a country that has seen 20% of its territory occupied by Russia since 2008."We are creating services whose mission is to support democratic processes in the South Caucasus countries, strengthen stability in the region, and combat Russian disinformation," said Jerzy Sałodki, editorial director of Vot Tak, TVP's Russian-language channel.The initiative adds to Poland's growing network of foreign-language broadcasting aimed at countries in its eastern neighborhood. In recent months alone, TVP has launched services in Ukrainian, Romanian (targeting Moldova), and Armenian, joining longer-established Russian and Belarusian channels. The broadcaster revealed Monday that its Moldovan channel has received 5.5 million views since early February, and is now preparing a service for Kazakhstan.In Poland, as across Central Europe, history is never far from the surface—and neither is the memory of occupation. Warsaw's decision to act unilaterally, rather than through EU mechanisms, reflects both Poland's deep experience resisting Kremlin narratives and a growing frustration with Brussels' pace in confronting Russian information warfare.Rati Mujiri, editor of the new Georgian service, said the channel aims to "tell the truth about what the EU is doing for Georgia, bringing viewers closer to the European perspective and pointing to paths that will bring us closer together."The timing is deliberate. Georgia's 2024 elections, over their conduct, pushed the country closer to and further from potential EU accession. Warsaw subsequently deemed responsible for violence against protesters.The Georgian government has already pushed back. TV Imedia, a station supportive of the ruling Georgian Dream party, criticized one of the new service's presenters, , as a referring to former President .But Poland's approach reflects lessons learned from its own democratic transition. In December 2024, TVP established an International Media Centre to coordinate its foreign-language broadcasting in . The expansion represents a from Warsaw: no longer content to merely defend against Russian disinformation at home, Poland is actively exporting democratic media infrastructure to countries still in Russia's shadow. added. The question remains whether Poland's unilateral action signals a loss of faith in EU-wide responses to information warfare. Warsaw's willingness to commit resources—and risk diplomatic friction with both and governments like —suggests that for Poland, the stakes are existential. With Russian aggression on Europe's doorstep, Warsaw appears unwilling to wait for Brussels to catch up.
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