By EUvsDisinfo
Earlier this month, on 1 August, a contentious law on ”transparency of foreign influence” took effect in Georgia. The law imposes unduly strict controls on civic groups that receive more than 20 per cent of their funding from abroad, designating them as ‘organisations carrying out the interests of a foreign power’. This includes local civil society organisations as well as the media. The organisations are subject to burdensome and disproportionate reporting requirements and sanctions for non-compliance. The extensive inspections powers given to state authorities create a chilling effect, potentially stifling and eliminating organisations critical of the government. Read in more detail here.
From protests to adoption
A similar draft law was withdrawn last year after widespread protests; opponents of the law pointed out that it was modelled on similar legislation introduced in Russia in 2012 and could be used to suppress civic groups.
When the Georgian government reintroduced the draft law in April 2024, breaching their pledge to not table anymore such legislation, it triggered renewed mass protests – the largest the country had seen since independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. The parliamentary procedure featured scuffles in the national parliament. Georgia’s allies also warned that the law would stifle hard-won freedoms and obstruct the country’s path to European Union membership.
In response, the governing Georgian Dream coalition embarked on a coordinated campaign to discredit local civic actors, the media, and the donors that support them – above all, the United States and the EU. This marked a distinct turning point toward embracing openly anti-EU and anti-Western rhetoric more readily.
Anti-EU and anti-Western rhetoric
Ever since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the Georgian government has sought to craft a balanced image between being pro-Western and not openly anti-Kremlin . The opposition parties had repeatedly criticised Georgian Dream of being too close to the Kremlin. But with the controversy over the foreign agents’ law erupting in 2023 and again this spring, this balance seems to tip. Of course, in the heated and polarized political environment in Georgia, the upcoming parliamentary election next October, the ruling party is prone to some nervousness.
Georgian Dream officials and pro-government experts now seem to be embracing common Kremlin talking points to discredit the EU and those civic and political forces in Georgia that want to keep the country on a pro-European course. There is ‘convincing evidence that governmental actors spread disinformation and propaganda to discredit civil society organisations, media, and opposition’, said Nino Dolidze, a civic activist, in an interview with EUvsDisinfo.
Officials and commentators started accusing the EU of seeking to destabilise the country as part of a ‘regime change’ agenda. They vilified the protesters with false claims that they were directed from abroad to provoke a ‘colour revolution’ in Georgia. Some outlets tried to suggest that the protests were organised by the US Embassy in Tbilisi. The People’s Power movement, a close ally of Georgian Dream, labelled European diplomats as instruments of the ‘global war party’ who were attempting to initiate a ‘Maidanisation’ process in Georgia and drag the country into Russia’s war against Ukraine. This, the claim went, would serve to open a ‘second front’ in the West’s war against Russia. Such claims of ‘second front’ and ‘colour revolutions’ have long since been among the Kremlin’s go-to narratives to discredit EU foreign policy.
‘Maidanisation’
A notable example of these narratives is POSTV, a prominent pro-government propaganda channel, which produced a series of documentary films aimed at discrediting the protests and defaming participants, including civil activists, youth groups, and NGOs. These films suggested that the protests were orchestrated from abroad, propagating the notion that Western powers oppose the foreign influence law in order to conceal their clandestine funding of various groups in Georgia. The ultimate goal? To destabilise the country and overthrow the democratic government – a Euromaidan scenario.
‘Depraved EU’
Pro-government outlets in Georgia and elsewhere enthusiastically picked up and amplified the outrage of Georgian Dream officials and commentators. According to Dolidze: ‘Disinformation we previously saw was mainly home-grown, but since last year, manipulative networks we encountered were not from Georgia, but from Russia’.
In amplifying Georgian Dream messaging, pro-government media added the habitual Kremlin disinformation narratives alleging, among other things, that the West is ‘depraved’ and that the EU is seeking to foist its decadent values onto healthier, more traditional societies. They claimed that the EU was pushing LGBTQI+ propaganda in Georgia and pressuring the government to normalise homosexuality and legalise same-sex marriage. They also claimed that EU membership would force Georgia to accept ‘depravity’.
The EU became a particular target of such disinformation after High Representative Josep Borrell and European Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Olivér Várhelyi warned that the draft law was not in line with EU standards and would complicate Georgia’s EU path. The EU subsequently suspended 30 million euros in support for Georgia’s Defence Forces and announced it would ‘review the direct aid to the government, while ensuring continued support to civil society and independent media in the country. The EU also described Georgian authorities’ current course of action as jeopardising Georgia’s EU path, de facto leading to ‘a halt’ of the accession process. In contrast to the claims made by Georgian Dream officials, the law on “transparency of foreign influence” actually pushed Georgia further away from the EU than before its adoption.
We have seen how quickly the messaging in the media can shift in response to political developments. In Georgia’s case, this was clearly driven by officials and pro-government commentators. For the sake of the Georgian people, it should shift back, towards less confrontational and more constructive narratives.
By EUvsDisinfo
