Georgian Parliament Speaker on UK Ambassador: his role in spreading anti-government disinformation makes BBC’s actions less surprising

Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili on Tuesday sharply criticised the British Ambassador to Georgia, accusing him of spreading disinformation during a meeting with students.

In his remarks, Papuashvili noted it was “alarming” when an ambassador was personally involved in spreading disinformation, and it was “doubly alarming” when this was done during meetings with students, effectively “brainwashing” them.

“Can you imagine the Georgian Ambassador in the UK going from university to university and engaging in a political campaign against the British Government? This is a political campaign against the Government of Georgia, and the UK Ambassador has become a participant in it. He is directly spreading lies and disinformation”, he noted.

Papuashvili added that if the Ambassador himself was involved in disseminating politically motivated disinformation, it was unsurprising that “BBC, a public broadcaster, is also spreading disinformation”.

“This only fuels public questions about who stands behind the BBC’s recent report”, the Speaker concluded.

The British Embassy published information on social media about the Ambassador’s meeting with students, noting that Gareth Ward discussed a range of topics, including UK-Georgia relations.

According to the Embassy’s statement, the Ambassador said political relations between the two countries have been strained due to “anti-democratic pressure on the opposition and civil society in Georgia”.