ABSTRACT
Pattern I – The Euro-Atlantic community speaking of legitimate action The Euro-Atlantic structures ‘radiate trust’1 and enjoy a high degree of credibility and respect among the Georgian population. Official opinions and recommendations by the EU, Council of Europe, OSCE, or NATO regarding reforms, draft legislation, or events are, therefore, generally perceived to be just, correct, and accurate. President Saakashvili and his government often referred to positive assessments to prove that a specific action is consistent with the country’s Euro-Atlantic orientation, indirectly urging the population to accept it as legitimate. However, as illustrated in the following pages, there have been numerous cases of manipulation by politicians and media. James Appathurai, NATO’s special representative for the Caucasus and Central Asia, has complained that the Georgian Public Broadcaster aired an interview with him but dubbed his words in such a way that it reflected ‘almost the polar opposite’ of what he had said in reality. As a result, he was convinced that this was not a mistranslation but pure fiction which ‘served a particular political interest but which of course undermined others and had the potential to cause more tension’.2
