Slovakia has banned Georgian Legion commander Mamuka Mamulashvili from entering the country after the government linked his unit to an alleged coup plot, Denník N reported on Jan. 31.
The volunteers-based Georgian Legion, which has been fighting in Ukraine since 2014, was founded by Mamulashvili to combat Russian forces.
Slovak Interior Minister Matúš Šutaj-Eštok said a total of 10 people were on the list of individuals barred from entering Slovakia.
During a press conference, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico did not explain how Mamulashvili could have organized protests in Slovakia or been behind the alleged coup plot.
The demonstrations, held under the slogan "Slovakia is Europe," swept across 30 cities on Jan. 24, with around 100,000 people nationwide chanting slogans like "Enough of Fico" and "We are Europe" in opposition to his policies and pro-Russian stance.
The protests were also fueled by Fico's visit to Moscow in late December, where he met with Russian President Vladimir Putin — one of the few European Union leaders to do so since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Fico cited a photo of Mamulashvili with Lucy Štasselová from the Peace for Ukraine initiative and Denník N commentator Martin Šimečka, both of whom supported the Georgian Legion, as evidence for his claim.
The Georgian Legion dismissed the Slovak government's accusations as "absurd and groundless."
"These statements are nothing more than a deliberate attempt to discredit our unit, which has been fighting alongside Ukraine against Russian aggression since 2014," Mamulashvili said.
A similar accusation previously emerged in Georgia, where the State Security Service (SSG) alleged that the Georgian Legion, a former bodyguard of ex-President Mikheil Saakashvili, and Giorgi Lortkipanidze—allegedly a deputy head of Ukraine's military intelligence—were involved in a plot against the ruling pro-Russian Georgian Dream party.
"Now, the Slovak authorities have decided to follow the same Russian game, recycling the same lies to serve their own political agenda," Mamulashvili added.
The news came a day after reports that the police in Slovakia detained a Ukrainian citizen on Jan. 30 suspected of preparing a coup in the country.
Relations between Kyiv and Bratislava have become increasingly tense this month. Fico, who has long opposed military aid to Ukraine, has escalated threats against Kyiv following the termination of Russian gas transit via Ukrainian territory on Jan. 1.
Olena Goncharova
(Updated: )
