Georgian Parliament Speaker says hard to build bridges when German Ambassador supports extremists

Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili on Friday issued strong criticism of the German Ambassador Peter Fischer, questioning whether Germany intends to “build bridges or burn them” with the Georgian people.

His remarks came after the Ambassador was seen attending a protest rally on Rustaveli Avenue.

Responding to media questions about the Ambassador’s presence at the demonstration, Papuashvili called the move “absolutely outrageous”, accusing the diplomat of mocking the Georgian state and society, and violating diplomatic norms.

According to the Speaker, the Ambassador expressed solidarity with individuals he described as “extremists”, including participants in the October 4 storming of the Presidential Palace - an incident the Ambassador has not publicly condemned.

The Speaker also criticised the Ambassador for posing in a photograph with Mamuka Tsutsqiridze, whom Papuashvili accused of insulting the Georgian Orthodox Church, the Patriarch, and his locum tenens.

“I am now waiting to see what steps the German Foreign Ministry will take, because it is a fact that this person makes a mockery of the Georgian state and Georgian public. After returning from Germany, we hoped that the German Ambassador would realise the importance of the Vienna Convention, reread the relevant articles and at least restrain himself. It took only a few days for the Ambassador to make a mockery of the entire society. Germany must decide whether it wants to build bridges with the Georgian people or destroy them. Under an Ambassador who mocks the Georgian state, supports extremists, and expresses solidarity with someone who insults our Church and Patriarch, it is hard to imagine those bridges being built”, he continued.

Papuashvili concluded that the German Foreign Ministry must provide an explanation, given that the Ambassador’s behavior contradicts the assurances previously given to the Georgian Government.