DISINFO: The West is aiming to open a second front against Russia
SUMMARY
The main objective now is to change the government in Georgia so that a compliant opposition will follow the directives of Europe and America and do the most important thing - to open a second front against Russia, so that Georgia is swept away and drowned in debt for centuries, just like Ukraine is drowning now.
RESPONSE
Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about Georgia and Russia being the ultimate target of international events. The claim also portrays Georgia as a puppet state of the Western countries.
Neither the US nor the EU are planning a forcible overthrow of the government in Georgia. No evidence is provided to support this claim.
The claim fits well into the recurring disinformation narrative suggesting a Western policy of staging “colour revolutions” worldwide with the aim of destabilising Russia.
Since the launch of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, pro-Kremlin media actively deployed disinformation narratives that the US, the EU, or even Ukraine are aiming to change power in Georgia and drag the country into the war with Russia, to open a ‘second front’ against Moscow and to ease the situation for Kyiv on the Ukrainian front.
The claims are groundless. The West is not interested in an escalation of the war. Neither the US nor the EU, nor Ukraine are pushing Georgia to open a second front against Moscow.
Pro-Kremlin media frequently falsely portray popular protests around the world as "colour revolutions" instigated from abroad, often by the US and the West. The disinformation narrative has been applied, among others, to reports about protests in Georgia, Armenia, Ukraine, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Belarus, Venezuela, Slovakia, Hong Kong, with the aim of portraying protest movements as aggressive actors who constantly prepare new coups.
Latest protests in Georgia were not instigated by any foreign power, but were driven by a strong rejection among Georgian citizens of the controversial ‘Foreign Agents' law, which critics say mirrors a 2012 law in Russia used to crack down on dissent and suppress NGOs and media, and which could be used to restrict freedom of expression and association.
The so-called ‘Foreign Agents’ law, inspired by a similar repressive measure in Russia, that may endanger the democratic reforms Georgia needs to join the European Union, is deeply unpopular among Georgian citizens, and protests have been promoted by a coalition of Georgian opposition parties. Hundreds of thousands of people have attended the protests.
Read also EUvsDisinfo's article on “Georgia: Resilience in action”.
See similar disinformation cases claiming that The West is seeking a coup d'etat in Georgia, that US and EU wants to orchestrate Euromaidan-like scenario in Georgia at parliamentary elections, that The US plans to change power in Georgia through protests to be blamed on Russia, that West plans to orchestrate Georgia maidan, install government to confront Russia, that West behind Georgia protests to turn the country into a second front against Russia, that The US wants to use Georgia to open a second front of the war against Russia, that Georgia protests are a planned CIA operation according to Maidan scenario, or that The West aims at bringing an anti-Russian government to power in Georgia.