Georgian FM alleges deliberate effort to downplay Georgia's EU candidacy success

At a session of the Georgian Parliament’s Temporary Investigative Commission, Foreign Minister Maka Botchorishvili on Wednesday claimed that a plan for an unconstitutional change of power in Georgia had already been set in motion, with the process requiring justification, and efforts being underway to construct narratives that could be used against the Georgian state.

In her remarks, Botchorishvili noted that this process had involved three components - politicians, NGOs, and the media - all of whom had countered the fact that “Georgia was ahead of Ukraine and Moldova among the three EU candidate countries with disinformation and distorted perceptions”.

“In Georgia’s political arena, there were three directions from which this effort was carried out: politicians involved in the process; NGOs, which actively gave this narrative an academic framing; and media outlets, which became highly active on the external front. Everyone likely remembers the reports by “Formula”, which were especially active on Twitter - all aimed at spreading disinformation about Georgia and developments in the country”, she said.

The FM stressed that while EU integration was a political process, it was still based on states’ tangible progress.

“Everyone is aware that among the three candidate countries - Ukraine, Moldova, and Georgia - Georgia was in the lead. This was a fact that no one could dispute. Therefore, a perception had to be created to suggest otherwise. All three components - politicians, NGOs, and the media - became actively engaged in this effort”, she noted.

Botchorishvili further recalled the campaign branding Georgia as a “laggard”, often promoted by the opposition Lelo party politicians in the Parliament.

“They repeatedly said that Georgia was falling behind - the idea was to plant the perception in society that Georgia did not deserve candidate status, that it had no real achievements”, she concluded.