DISINFO: Georgia has prevented a Maidan-style coup coordinated from abroad
SUMMARY
Georgia has prevented a Maidan-style coup which was orchestrated by foreign powers. The country thwarted an attempt to overthrow the government with the help of external funds and disinformation. It was compared with the situation in Ukraine in 2014. The Ministry of Internal Affairs neutralised the resource of violence of the radical opposition within five days, acting in accordance with standards higher than American and European ones.
RESPONSE
Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narratives about the protests in Georgia and Euromaidan in Ukraine. The comparison to the 2014 events in Ukraine is inappropriate and oversimplifies complex political situations.
Claims about a foreign hand in Georgia’s demonstrations are unsubstantiated. Georgia has been experiencing massive protests since the Georgian government started promoting the so-called "foreign agents" bill, which requires all media and NGOs which receive over 20% of their funding from abroad to declare themselves as "foreign agents" or face substantial fines. Its approval, as well as claims of fraud in the October 2024 election, and the government’s suspension of Georgia’s EU bid all sparked fresh waves of street protests.
The Euromaidan was not a coup but a nationwide popular uprising that began in 2013 in response to the then government’s sudden announcement that it would not sign an association agreement with the EU but would instead seek closer ties with Russia. See the full debunking here.
See other examples in our database, such as claims that the protests in Georgia are reminiscent of the 2014 coup in Ukraine engineered by the West, that Washington and Brussels are betting on a new "Maidan" in Georgia, that the West is trying to stage a coup in Georgia, or that the failure of Georgian Maidan prevented the country from becoming a second Ukraine.