On December 30, 2023, pro-government media outlets “Imedi TV” (edited version), POSTV, and Pia.ge published a quote by Salome Samadashvili, an opposition member of the parliament and the representative of the “Lelo” fraction, on the granting of EU candidate status to Georgia. According to the mentioned quote, Samadashvili calls the decision of the European Union a mistake. The quote is displayed on the social media card together with the picture of the opposition MP.
Salome Samadashvili: “I think the European Union made a mistake when it granted the candidate status to the country.”
The card by “Imedi” TV was also shared by the Facebook account “Mikheil Ganubazhebeli,” which regularly publishes content discrediting the opposition.
The quote disseminated by the pro-government media on behalf of the opposition MP is misleading and is being shared without context. According to the full quote, Salome Samadashvili did not consider granting Georgia candidate status as a mistake, but the fact that the European Union did not follow this decision with a clearly understandable message about de-oligarchization in relation to Ivanishvili.
Salome Samadashvili spoke about the candidate status and the issue of de-oligarchization with Giorgi Targamadze on the December 30 evening broadcast of “Formula” TV.
| The version of the pro-government media | The full quote aired by TV Formula |
| Salome Samadashvili: “I think the European Union made a mistake when it granted the candidate status to the country…… | Salome Samadashvili: “I think the European Union made a mistake when it granted the candidate status to the country and did not send a very clear message about what de-oligarchization means in relation to Ivanishvili. |
After Salome Samadashvili herself responded to the Facebook post of TV “Imedi” on her personal Facebook page and criticized the outlet for misinterpreting her words, “Imedi” edited the original error, but made the correction disproportionately: it did not indicate the content of the original erroneous version. In the edited version of Imedi’s post, it appears that the original card has been deleted, and the description is incorrect.
Editing history of the post published by TV Imedi
Other media with misleading headlines
The misleading, incomplete quote was used as a headline by other pro-government online outlets such as Marshallpress, For.ge, INFO9, “Kvira“, as well as the “Georgian Times.” Although Samadashvili’s quote is given in full in the online link of the article, the headline creates the impression that the opposition MP considers the decision of the EU to grant candidate status to Georgia as a mistake.
About Mikheil Ganubazhebeli
The Facebook account “Mikheil Ganubazhebeli“, which features a photo of imprisoned former President Mikheil Saakashvili as its profile picture, writes in the description that it has been blocked several times on Facebook, which is why the name “Mikhail Ukrainologist” has been changed to “Mikhail Ganubazhebeli.”
“Mikheil Ukrainologi” has been involved in the discrediting campaigns of the opposition for years now and has spread a number of false information and manipulative content against the opponents of the government. For more details, see:
- VIDEO FABRICATION TARGETING OPPOSITION LEADER GIORGI VASHADZE
- ALTERED VIDEO OF LEVAN BERDZENISHVILI DISSEMINATED ON SOCIAL MEDIA (in Georgian)
- MIKHEIL UKRAINOLOGI PUBLISHES A FABRICATED VERSION OF GIGI UGULAVA’S POST(in Georgian)
- KHATIA DEKANOIDZE’S COMMENT ABOUT THE ELECTIONS IS SPREAD WITHOUT CONTEXT(in Georgian)
- INFORMATION ABOUT NGOS DEMANDING TO DISQUALIFY BASILASHVILI FROM DOHA TOURNAMENT IS FALSE
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