DISINFO: Like Euromaidan, the Georgia protests were orchestrated from abroad
SUMMARY
The protests that have gripped Georgia over the past week closely resemble the 2014 Maidan coup in Ukraine. Backed by external powers, the protests are just another plot attempt.
RESPONSE
Recurring pro-Kremlin narrative alleging the undue influence of Western governments in the post-Soviet space; framing all manifestations of popular discontent in the region as manufactured elsewhere, and painting entire nations as pathologically Russophobic.
There is no evidence that recent protests in Georgia were a Western-orchestrated attempt to forcibly change power. Massive protests erupted in Tbilisi after the Georgian parliament passed the first reading of a controversial bill requiring some organizations receiving foreign funding to register as “foreign agents”.
Many protesters saw the draft law as a legal step being inspired by similar laws in Russia and they protested against it. Further, the draft law caused fears that it 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. Notably, the protests were met with tear gas, pepper spray and water cannons from the riot police that dispersed the rally using force.
Pro-Kremlin outlets falsely portray as a coup d’état the Euromaidan revolution. The spontaneous onset of the Euromaidan protests was a reaction by numerous segments of the Ukrainian population to former president Viktor Yanukovych’s sudden departure from the promised Association Agreement with the European Union in November 2013.
Read a similar disinformation case claiming that the US is behind attempts to "shake" the situation in Georgia.