On December 18, the pro-government POSTV spread an information card claiming that the President of Georgia, Salome Zourabichvili, was greeted with recorded applause in the European Parliament. POSTV also published a video on its Facebook pages (1;2), with the description saying, “When the taped applause was heard faintly, and suddenly it was made louder.”
A post with the same content was also published on other Facebook accounts (1;2;3), including by pro-government expert Davit Chikhelidze and a member of the Georgian Dream electoral list, Irakli Cheishvili. Cheishvili’s post was shared by the pro-government media outlet Mkhare.ge. The same claim was also spread in the Geo News Facebook group.
The claim that the President of Georgia was greeted with taped applause in the European Parliament is disinformation. The footage shows that members of the European Parliament were applauding Zourabichvili. The information that a recording of applause was played during her speech has also been denied in the European Parliament.
To verify whether a recording of applause was played during Salome Zourabichvili’s speech in the hall, Myth Detector contacted the European Parliament’s public relations representatives. They denied the claim made by pro-government media:
“Please note that there was no ‘taped applause.’
In this particular segment of the recording, the sound from the hall was included in real time – when the European Parliament members were actually applauding President Zourabichvili (when she entered the hall, during her speech, and at the end of her speech).”
The full recording of Salome Zourabichvili’s speech, including her meeting with the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, and her subsequent entrance into the hall, has been published on the European Parliament’s website. Both videos show that European Parliament members first applaud Salome Zourabichvili when she enters the hall and again before the start of her speech.

The President of Georgia was also applauded after the end of her speech, and this can also be seen in the recording.

The photos, which show European Parliament members applauding the President of Georgia and holding Georgian flags, have also been published on the official website of the European Parliament.
Screenshots: The European Parliament
Thus, the claim by pro-government actors that Salome Zourabichvili was greeted with a taped applause in the European Parliament is disinformation.
On December 18, the President of Georgia delivered a speech at the European Parliament in Strasbourg. She spoke about the situation in Georgia and called on the European Union to intensify support for pro-European protests.
About the sources:
Among those who spread disinformation about Salome Zourabichvili’s speech in the European Parliament is Irma Khakhutaishvili, who has two Facebook accounts (1;2) and is a supporter of the ruling party, Georgian Dream. Khakhutaishvili regularly posts anti-Western content, as well as information and fake stories against the Georgian opposition. Myth Detector has repeatedly fact-checked posts published on both of her accounts in the past.
Another Facebook user who spread the same disinformation is Davit Chikhelidze, the chairperson of the Center for Regional Development and Promotion. Chikhelidze mainly posts content that discredits the opposition and has also spread false information. In 2020, he participated in a campaign discrediting the National Democratic Institute (NDI). Furthermore, Chikhelidze is associated with the creation of a discrediting page in the 2024 pre-election period targeting the opposition and nongovernmental organizations, titled “Facts and Choices.”
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