09 Mar, 2022
As you know, the radical opposition in Georgia has unleashed a powerful information war against the Georgian authorities and its own country in the wake of Russia’s open aggression and the ongoing military hostilities in Ukraine. A similar precedent has not been observed in any country in the world today, regardless of whether a country has joined the sanctions, whether it is sending volunteers with the official consent of the government, and so on.
Absolutely all media outlets and party activists of the radical opposition are involved in the information war with their full resources. They are running their malicious campaign in several areas. For example:
1. We have seen that the commotion concerning the special migration of Russian citizens in Georgia turned out to have been absolutely unfounded and deliberately created.
As for the issue of the admission or non-admission of specific citizens, regarding which we periodically encounter specific negative campaigns in the information space:
As we have already stated, when a foreign citizen enters Georgia, the relevant agencies act to insure against any, even theoretical risks, and make individual decisions on admission in each specific case, in line with their competence.
2. Every speaker and party activist of the radical opposition has been instructed to repeat, at any opportunity and as many times as possible, that Georgia has a Russian government.
The campaign is being carried out both within the country and outside it, which is even more damaging and immoral. It seems that they really have hired lobbyists to achieve this goal and the disseminated information confirms this as well.
3. For several days now, a campaign has been underway suggesting that negotiations are taking place with Russia during the war on specific new issues in the field of trade, which is also a crude fake. In reality, the appeal by private companies within the framework of the ongoing trade negotiations on dairy products was sent in 2020, and “for some reason,” Russia’s relevant service issued the response to this appeal four days ago.
4. In recent days, sponsored pages and video clips concerning direct calls for war have appeared on social networks and Internet sites. The message of these video clips, which are being disseminated from outside the country, is being intensified – indirectly, and sometimes through direct hints – by the activists and leaders of the radical opposition by ostensibly playing on moral, national, and masculine emotions, thereby trying to package their attempts at the propaganda of war.
5. False information concerning the alleged change of the place of deployment of individual units of the Georgian armed forces and their movements has also been identified. However, they do not dare to support this fake as openly as in the previous cases.
6. In addition to the fact that they have launched a campaign in several directions within and outside the country as elements of information warfare, you probably have noticed that they are paying special attention to the campaign based on ethnic discrimination. They believe that it is easy to promote this against the current emotional backdrop, and they are organizing various activities with which they are trying to justify discrimination, oppression, and other forms of influence. For its part, this campaign of discrimination, in addition to representing an utterly ignorant and medieval approach, puts at great risk the hundreds of thousands of citizens living in Russia and the occupied regions of Georgia and carries an increased risk of provocations in terms of the by now well-deciphered interest of dragging Georgia into war.
It should also be noted that in parallel with these and other campaigns, unfortunately, some representatives of the Ukrainian Government, which is at war with the occupier, often find the time to record so-called “live videos” and issue statements aimed against the Georgian authorities, the reasons for which we have already discussed on one occasion. We will not dwell on the details in the given situation, and we will definitely not enter into a discussion. On the contrary, we will continue to provide political support to Ukraine and the Ukrainian people on absolutely all international platforms while also providing humanitarian support.
On the one hand, Russia is conducting open aggression and war on the territory of Ukraine, which violates absolutely all international norms, people are losing their lives, and Georgia, 20 percent of whose territories are occupied by the same state, is facing a great challenge. On the other hand, just a few days ago, our country applied for EU membership candidate status. Against this backdrop, conducting an information war within and outside the country at such a scale, spending large sums of money and lobbying a campaign directed against one’s own country and government is an unprecedented example of fighting against the country and its European future.
Naturally, the Georgian authorities are doing everything possible to prevent a war in Georgia, which could lead to a catastrophe for our country and its people.
We urge the public to remain calm in the face of the hostile and malicious campaign carried out by the radical opposition, the same fifth column, no matter how difficult it may be, and not to fall for their daily provocations and hybrid informational warfare, which is mainly based on fakes. The main thing now is to head in the right direction and to be righteous not before the war narrative created by a revanchist party, but before the future of our children, our homeland, its security, and national interests, for which we are doing absolutely everything and will continue to do so.