DISINFO: West behind Georgia protests to turn the country into a second front against Russia
SUMMARY
It was already decided that the next piece to fall in the domino was Georgia. A priori it is a small, insignificant country that did not count for them, so why wouldn’t it be glad to play with the rules of the collective West to set fire to another front in the Russian sphere, as Ukraine did not work. If not the easy way, then through the hard one, sanctioning it and threatening it with not entering the EU, or saying that the government is pro-Russian or pro-Putin, in order to have the opportunity to freeze its assets, anything to cement the narrative that Georgia must join their ranks. This along with feeding the disorder in the streets with few people so Western media can say they are a wide majority, lying to the public over and over again.
RESPONSE
Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative framing popular protests as Western-led colour revolutions, in this case the mobilisations against the approval of the so-called ‘foreign agents law’ in Georgia.
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 criticizing 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 integration in the block.
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.