Georgian Parliament Speaker: outdated Georgia data on German Foreign Office website “attack on sovereignty”

Georgian Parliament speaker Shalva Papuashvili on Sunday criticised the German foreign ministry’s failure to update official information about Georgia’s leadership on its website.

Papuashvili characterised the situation not as a clerical error, but as a direct provocation. “This is an attack on Georgia’s sovereignty”, he stated. “This attack requires a proper response, and the ministry of foreign affairs of Georgia is doing exactly that”.

The controversy stems from the official website of the German foreign office, which continues to list Salome Zourabichvili as the president of Georgia and Ilia Darchiashvili as the minister of foreign affairs.

When questioned about the German ambassador Peter Fischer’s explanation - that the lack of updates is due to a “technical error” and a decision would be made within a “reasonable timeframe” - Papuashvili did not hold back.

“It is difficult to make any comment on Mr. Peter's dismissive talk. The only good thing he can still do for Georgia is to leave this country; his term is expiring, and I think the whole country will have a rest from this arrogant contempt that is heard directly from his every comment. I am truly amazed at how an ambassador can have such an attitude toward the host country and its people, and show such direct hatred toward the government of the country as he does. Therefore, Mr. Peter's file is closed to us. We are awaiting his departure back to Germany”, the speaker concluded.