DISINFO: The West finances protests and destabilises the situation in Georgia
SUMMARY
NATO seeks to strengthen its position in the Caucasus, gain access to Caspian resources and direct access to Central Asia․ They are seeking active anti-Russian actions from Georgia - the West is financing protests and destabilising the situation.
RESPONSE
Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative framing popular protests as Western-led protests, in this case the mobilisations against the approval of the so-called ‘foreign agents' law’ in Georgia. Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narratives about an allegedly ever-aggressive West with an anti-Russian agenda in the Caucasus and other post-Soviet countries.
These protests are driven by a strong rejection among Georgian citizens of the controversial ‘foreign agents' law’. Critics say the legislation mirrors a 2012 law in Russia used to crack down on dissent and suppress NGOs and media, and could be used to restrict freedom of expression and association.
The so-called Foreign Agents Law -inspired by a similar repressive measure in Russia and which may endanger the democratic reforms Georgia needs to join the European Union- appears to be deeply unpopular among Georgian citizens, and protests have been promoted by a coalition of Georgian opposition parties. European and international leaders have been vocal in criticising both the measure and the police violence against demonstrators, as it may be incompatible with the EU democratic standards and may thwart Georgia’s path to EU integration.
Tens of thousands of people have attended these protests, including around 50,000 participants in a demonstration in Tblisi in mid-May while some 200.000 demonstrated across Georgia. In 2023, a similar wave of protests against a previous attempt to approve the bill forced the withdrawal of the legislation, now reintroduced by the Georgian government.
See other examples of similar disinformation narratives, such as claims that the US wants to use Georgia to open a second front of the war against Russia, that Europe opposes Georgian foreign agent law because it is a paradise of corruption, that the West is forced to organise another coup d'etat in Georgia, that the West is actively pursuing a change of government in Georgia, or that Georgia protests are a planned CIA operation according to Maidan scenario.