Georgian Parliament official: Germany has taken positive steps toward restoring bilateral relations following departure of its former Ambassador

Levan Makhashvili, the Chair of the Georgian Parliament’s Committee on European Integration, on Tuesday commented on the scheduling of Georgian Ambassador Aleksandre Kartozia’s credentials ceremony with German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and the removal from the German Federal Foreign Office’s website of a page identifying Salome Zourabichvili as Georgia’s incumbent President, saying that Germany has taken “very positive steps” toward restoring bilateral relations with Georgia.

In his remarks, Makhashvili noted that the developments signal progress toward restoring bilateral ties and returning relations to the framework of constructive dialogue.

“We are seeing one thing: following the departure of Germany’s former Ambassador, very positive steps have been taken toward restoring our bilateral relations and bringing them back into the framework of civilized dialogue”, he said.

“I hope these steps will continue. If anything is needed from our side to support this positive dynamic, we will do our utmost. As for who bears responsibility for the fact that our relations are currently at an impasse, let the public judge”, Makhashvili continued.

He concluded by emphasising that the fact remained that within days of the former Ambassador’s departure, the positive steps were already obvious.

Germany scheduled the official credentials ceremony for Ambassador Aleksandre Kartozia and the page that previously identified Salome Zourabichvili as the incumbent President of Georgia has been removed, and no official information about her in that capacity is currently available on the ministry’s website.