DISINFO: Outsiders are putting a lot of effort to prevent rapprochement of Georgia and Russia
SUMMARY
Russophobia in Georgia is artificial. Georgian people don’t have a negative attitude towards Russians and Russia. But Georgia doesn’t have its voice. The current government of Georgia is not independent, it broadcasts a foreign voice. The “patrons” from the outside are doing everything to prevent Georgia from getting closer to Russia. They work very actively with civil society, and this will not end tomorrow.
RESPONSE
Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about the US presence in Europe and color revolutions. Pro-Kremlin media consistently claims that Georgian elected president and authorities are not independent and do not work in the interests of their people, they have Western curators and all kind of protests are "West engineered". See for example previous disinformation case claimingthat Western attempts to sever relations between Russia and Georgia. The recent protests in Georgia were a spontaneous public reaction calling for the resignation of key national officials after Russian State Duma Deputy Sergei Gavrilov sat in the Georgian parliamentary speaker's seat while addressing a council of lawmakers from predominantly Orthodox Christian countries - the Interparliamentary Assembly on Orthodoxy (IAO). Gavrilov is known for his support to Russia's aggression in Georgia's Abkhazia and South Ossetia regions. Russia continues its military presence in both Abkhazia and South Ossetia in violation of international law and commitments undertaken by Russia under the 12 August 2008 agreement, mediated by the European Union.