DISINFO: EU High Representative knew in advance about riots in Georgia
SUMMARY
Josep Borrell, head of the EU's diplomat service, who declared that the Georgian bill was inconsistent with European values, knew in advance about the impending riots.
RESPONSE
An unsubstantiated pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative around the March 2023 protests in Georgia claiming that collective West is escalating the protests. It fits into a recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about colour revolutions, portraying popular protests as Western-instigated coup d'état.
There is no evidence to support the claims that the EU’s HR/VP Josep Borrell knew in advance about the impending riots in Georgia. Massive protests in Tbilisi were a reaction to the Georgian parliament passing the first reading of a controversial bill requiring some organisations receiving foreign funding to register as “foreign agents”. The draft law has been criticised for mirroring a 2012 law in Russia used to crack down on dissent and suppress western-funded NGOs and media. The draft law caused fears that it could be used to restrict freedom of expression and association and could impede Georgia’s hopes for closer ties with the European Union, following local and international criticism, including from the US, EU and its member states, as well as the UN.
The pro-Kremlin media frequently falsely portray popular protests around the world as instigated from abroad, often by the US and the West. The disinformation narrative has been applied, among others, to reports about protests in Georgia, 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.
Read similar disinformation cases claiming that the US is behind attempts to "shake" the situation in Georgia, that protests in Georgia are attempt to forcibly change power, resembling Euromaidan, that protests in Georgia are orchestrated from abroad, that the West obstructs Georgia’s attempt to become an independent state, or that foreign agents in Georgia exploit naïve protesters for regime change.