Representatives of Georgian civil society have issued a joint statement warning that what they describe as a coordinated campaign by the ruling Georgian Dream party and organizations affiliated with it is damaging the country’s interests and Georgia’s future.
The statement says that the spread of propaganda messages and narratives associated with Russia has become particularly widespread and intensive around the 18th anniversary of Russia’s military aggression against Georgia.
“We consider it necessary to publicly respond to and clearly counter the flow of Russian propaganda coming from the Georgian Dream party and various organizations affiliated with it,” the civil society representatives said in their statement.
They said the campaign was being accompanied by attempts to distort historical facts and shift responsibility for the 2008 Russia-Georgia war onto Georgia.
“During the days marking the 18th anniversary of Russia’s military aggression against Georgia, the dissemination of propaganda messages and narratives from the occupying country has become particularly widespread and intensive. We continue to hear the audaciously fabricated accusation, characteristic of totalitarian propaganda, that Georgia started the 2008 war — the war during which the Russian army and so-called volunteers who illegally entered Georgia burned and destroyed Georgian villages and settlements and brutally dealt with civilians,” the statement reads.
The representatives said ethnic cleansing and other serious crimes committed by Russian forces against Georgian citizens had been established by international courts and tribunals.
They also highlighted the continued occupation of Georgia’s two regions following the 2008 war, saying Russia remains in violation of international norms and agreements, including the August 12, 2008 ceasefire agreement mediated by the European Union.
The statement further condemns the use of what the signatories describe as Russian propaganda terminology by Georgian Dream leaders, particularly the term “Russophobia.”
“We consider the use and establishment of the term ‘Russophobia’ in the political and public space of Georgia, which is occupied by Russia, completely unacceptable. It is especially unacceptable to use this entirely artificial term, created to justify Russian imperial expansion, against those who oppose and protest the growing influence of the occupying country in our country,” the statement says.
The civil society representatives argue that reducing reactions to military aggression, war crimes and gross violations of international law to an emotional, identity-based form of “hatred” allows propaganda to discredit legitimate opposition to the imperial ambitions of the Putin regime.
They also link what they describe as Georgian Dream’s use of Russian propaganda narratives to a number of broader developments, including democratic backsliding, the persecution of people on political grounds, restrictions on civil rights and freedoms, the suspension of Georgia’s European and Euro-Atlantic integration, anti-Western propaganda, growing economic and energy dependence on Russia, migration policy, the spread of systemic Russian-style corruption, and increasing polarization in Georgian society.
The statement says these actions and accompanying propaganda “damage the foundations of Georgian statehood and leave our country vulnerable to Russian aggression,” potentially creating irreversible consequences for future generations.
“We, the citizens and patriots of this country, clearly and unconditionally reject these anti-state, Kremlin-oriented narratives. We call on every citizen of Georgia, civil society groups, political and professional associations to recognize the scale of the anticipated threat, not to succumb to disinformation and hostility imposed by Russian propaganda, and to stand firmly in defense of our country’s sovereignty, national interests and European future,” the statement reads.
The signatories also call for the release of political prisoners, free and fair elections, democratic governance and the protection of human rights, as well as the restoration of Georgia’s European and Euro-Atlantic course and the country’s eventual liberation from Russian occupation and influence.
The joint statement is signed by 117 representatives from various fields.
