On July 19th, the Facebook account “Unity for Georgia” published a picture of a man, who, according to the attached description, is the President of the European Council. The post claimed that in solidarity with the cancelled “Tbilisi Pride,” Michel has visited Georgia wearing a dress.
The claim that the image is taken in Georgia and portrays Charles Michel is false. In reality, the picture was taken on July 1st 2021, during the Pitti Uomo Fashion Week in Florence and portrayed one of the participants.
The image shared by “Unity for Georgia” was taken during the men’s fashion show organized by the company Pitti Immagine on July 1st, 2021. Alongside other images, the selected picture was shared on the Facebook pages of Pitti Uomo and Pitti Immagine and was followed by the caption: “Live from the Pitti Uomo 100.” The image does not reveal the identity of the displayed person.
Pitti Uomo is held twice a year in Florence. This year, the event was hosted by the historical building Fortezza da Basso. Therefore, the picture is taken in Italy and not in Georgia.
It is worth mentioning that the shape of the beard, as well as the colour of the hair of Charles Michel and the person displayed in the picture are different.
Charles Michel in Lithuania. July 6th, 2021, Personal Instagram account
As for Michel’s visit to Georgia, the President of the European Council arrived in Georgia on July 18th, where he participated in the Batumi International Conference.
Charles Michel on Batumi International Conference, Photo: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia
About the Source
The first post of the account, “Unity for Georgia,” was published on May 17th, 2021. Afterwards, one can find the posts regarding the protests about the Namakhvani HPP, videos of Natia Colussi and COVID vaccinations. The account does not contain any image revealing the identity of the person managing it.
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