DISINFO: The US and EU plan to destabilise the situation in Georgia
SUMMARY
The US will make every effort to destabilise the domestic political situation in Georgia and recognise the parliamentary elections as illegitimate.
There is a real possibility that the Euromaidan scenario will be repeated in Georgia, and external forces, in particular the US and the EU, will play a major role in this.
RESPONSE
A recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative, pre-emptively framing any future protests in Georgia as a Western-sponsored colour revolution.
This claim is an attempt to discredit potential protests and justify repressive measures against them in light of the upcoming Parliamentary elections in Georgia on October 26th 2024. Human rights organisation Amnesty International has previously accused Georgia’s police of excessive use of force against overwhelmingly peaceful protesters.
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 US State Department Spokesperson categorically denied, a number of times, Russian allegations that the US is planning a “colour revolution” or “Maidan in Georgia,” calling them completely false and absurd, instead emphasising US support for Georgia’s development and its struggle against Russian aggression.
Pro-Kremlin and other Russian state-controlled outlets 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 articles on “Georgia: Resilience in action” and “Georgia: The next colour revolution?”
See similar disinformation cases claiming that The US plans a colour revolution in Georgia after October elections, that The US plans a colour revolution in Georgia after October elections, that The US is preparing a “Tbilisi Maidan” in Georgia, 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 or that West behind Georgia protests to turn the country into a second front against Russia.