Foreign Minister Scolds Ambassador to Denmark for Defending Detained Colleague

Georgian Foreign Minister Davit Zalkaliani made fiery remarks on October 8 against Ambassador to Denmark Gigi Gigiadze who expressed his full supports towards MFA employee Iveri Melashvili detained for alleged ceding of lands to Azerbaijan.

Putting it down to the Ambassador’s “passionate reaction” to the fate of the colleague, FM Zalkaliani said Gigiadze should have notified the ministry in advance before voicing his opinion about an “extremely sensitive topic.”

Ambassador Gigiadze, who served as Deputy Foreign Minister in 2014-16, slammed the investigation into transferring territories to Azerbaijan and decried charges brought against Melashvili as “absurd” and “lacking common sense.”

Noting that Melashvili is a “distinguished patriot of Georgia” whom he came to know since 1997, the Ambassador expressed his hope “that the initiated investigation will thoroughly answer all the existing questions and a completely innocent man, who is in love with his country, will be released soon.”

The Prosecutor’s Office of Georgia detained two Border Demarcation Commission members – Iveri Melashvili of the Foreign Ministry and Natalia Ilychova of the Interior Ministry on October 7, accusing the two Border Delimitation Commission members of hiding the 1938 map and using the maps from the 1970s and 80s instead, which allegedly led to the Commission agreeing to compromise 3500 ha lands in favor of Azerbaijan.

Calling Ambassador Gigiadze’s remarks “surprising,” FM Zalkaliani said the diplomat will be provided with the relevant information regarding the ongoing investigation.

This post is also available in: ქართული (Georgian) Русский (Russian)