Georgia: The defense ministry launches a media blitz to improve public image

Molly Corso 6/20/07

The Georgian Ministry of Defense is undertaking a different kind of campaign – a media blitz designed to restore its tattered image among Georgian civilians. Yet, as it tries to overcome a reputation for disorganization and corruption, the military is confronting questions about the transparency of its operations.

For much of the country's post-Soviet existence, Georgia's armed forces lacked capable leadership, resulting in a woeful lack of discipline. It was widely viewed as inept as a fighting force, even potentially mutinous, while at the same time being a black hole of graft. Things began to change after 2003, when President Mikheil Saakashvili came to power. His administration embarked on a total overhaul of the military's culture in order to promote Georgia's entry into the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive].

The military re-organization has proceeded rapidly, outpacing the change in public attitudes toward the armed forces. In an attempt to properly align attitudes with the reality of the transformation, the Defense Ministry has enlisted the support of mass media outlets, employing a variety of tactics to convey a positive message about the changes.

A central element of the Defense Ministry's strategy is television commercials. In the spring, a publicity campaign developed by the ministry played on the themes of tradition and patriotism, portraying Georgian men prepared to sacrifice comfortable family life to protect their country. One clip features a middle-lass Georgian family sitting down to eat. When the news broadcasts images of conflict, the young man stands up, dons a uniform and leaves while his son and wife watch silently.

This spring also saw the airing of a television reality show, broadcast on the pro-government channel Rustavi 2, called Kazarma (Barracks), which glorified the boot camp experience. Sixteen civilians – eight women and eight men – competed for 40,000 lari (approximately $24,000.00) over a two-month period at the historic Mukhrovani military base.

Now, there are also plans to launch a military television channel in the fall. This new channel reportedly would be based at the Rustavi 2 building.

According to military analyst Irakli Mchedlishvili, project director at the Civil Council of Defense and Security, changing the public's perception is a vital component in the overall effort to reorganize the armed forces. "I think Georgians' attitude toward the army was not good," he said. "The army's prestige within the country was not very high so they [Defense Ministry officials] would like to support the process of ... reviving this tradition."

Critics have lambasted the military ads as propaganda, and suggest that the government is spending scarce resources unwisely. Some believe the attempt to raise the profile of the armed forces is sending the wrong signals to the public: Georgia is ostensibly striving to democratize, but the ads can give the impression that the government wants to militarize society. Helping to fuel speculation about the government's intent is Tbilisi's ongoing troubles with the separatist regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive].

Irakli Sesiashvili, the director of the Justice and Liberty Association, said that when a country only boasts of five television stations, dedicating one exclusively to the military is alarming. "[In the first place] this is a question of principle: where are we trying to go? We have just five or six stations and if one of them is a military station, who are we? Israel or Cuba?" he asked.

Helping to stoke question about the military's publicity tactics was a June 8 vote in the Georgian parliament to increase state spending by 600 million Georgian lari (roughly $USD 353 million) in 2007. Over two-thirds of the June 8 appropriation will go to the Defense Ministry, bringing overall military spending for this fiscal year to nearly 1 billion lari (approximately $569 million).

Analysts and opposition members have criticized military spending over a lack of transparency and oversight. While spending is formally monitored by the four members of parliament on the official Group of Friends committee, currently no opposition members sit on the committee, and military expenditures have been plagued by accusations of corruption and unnecessary secrecy. "Almost 80 percent of the increased funds will go to the Defense Ministry, but it is absolutely unclear where and how these funds will be spent," Georgian media outlets reported Davit Gamkrelidze, a leader of the opposition New Rights Party and a parliament member, as saying.

EurasiaNet obtained a copy of the military budget breakdown prior to the June 8 increase. In it, there is no mention of how much money has been earmarked for the new television station, or other marketing initiatives. The largest expenditure falls under "capital expenses" and allots over 160 million lari (about $96 million) for purchases, construction and capital repair. While the figures are broken down by military branch, no specifics are provided for what will be purchased, constructed or repaired.

Both the Ministry of Defense and Parliament's Defense and Security Committee did not respond to repeated requests by a EurasiaNet correspondent for information concerning both the media campaign and the overall budget increase.

According to media reports and military analysts, the bulk of the increase will be used to buy new equipment for Georgia's ongoing push toward NATO membership. Other proposed areas of expenditure include 60 million lari (roughly $36 million) for barracks construction and increased training for troops slotted to serve as peacekeepers in Iraq.

While opposition members have accused the government of hiding election campaign funds in the military budget, military analysts like Sesiashvili ascertain that the extra financing is planned for military expenditures. He noted that according to undisclosed sources at the ministry, the government has been in negotiations with foreign governments to "modernize" the old, Soviet-era equipment the ministry has purchased over the past three years.

Over the past three years, the Georgian military has made several controversial purchases, including dated equipment from Ukraine which was plagued by mechanical difficulties. According to Sesiashvili, a large piece of the budget increase will likely be spent updating this equipment so it meets NATO standards.

Opposition members are quick to point out a discrepancy: while the Georgian government is evidently reluctant to disclose military expenditures, foreign governments dealing with Tbilisi are relatively forthcoming with details. For example, according to news reports, Georgia is in negotiations with the Czech government to purchase aircraft and combat weapons. Information about the sale was published in Czech media while no details were available in Georgia.

The problem, according to Sesiashvili, is not that the initial purchases are classified since that is common international practice. The real issue is that even after the purchase, the Defense Ministry is not releasing the information to the Georgian public – although it reports its purchases to international organizations like the OSCE. In addition, he said it is extremely difficult to get any information from the ministry – classified or not.

"This is just an insult to the society that this information is not open," he said.

Editor's Note: Molly Corso is a freelance reporter and photojournalist based in Tbilisi.

Posted June 20, 2007 © Eurasianet