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| Walter Schwimmer (left) and Plamen Nikolov (right) in Tbilisi, February, 2004. |
“Procedures necessary to expel a foreign diplomat are underway,” Deputy Foreign Minister Kakha Sikharulidze said on May 10.
Nikolov is said to have provided “incorrect and inadequate” information to the CoE regarding the developments in Adjara.
However, on May 10 the Council of Europe has denied the reports saying , “no official request for his [Plamen Nikolov] withdrawal has been received from the Georgian authorities.”
Plamen Nikolov is currently in Tbilisi. He was visiting Batumi, Adjarian capital with the members of the Council of Europe’s Anti-Torture Committee this weekend and arrived in the Georgian capital on May 10.
It is most likely that the issue will become clear after the visit of Georgian Foreign Minister Salome Zurabishvili in Strasbourg on May 12-13.
“The Georgian Minister for Foreign Affairs is expected to discuss her government’s position with the Secretary General on the occasion of the 114th Session of the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers, which takes place in Strasbourg later this week,” the CoE’s statement reads.
Although it is Mr. Nikolov who is to suffer the toughest blow, Saakashvili’s anger was triggered by the CoE Secretary General Walter Schwimmer, who said on May 2.
“It is shocking to hear, that in … Georgia bridges are exploded because the central and the local [Adjarian] authorities have lost their ability to dialogue,” Schwimmer said. Ex-Adjarian leader blew up three bridges in Adjara, linking the region with the rest of Georgia.
Speaking at the Batumi University on May 9, in front of the European diplomats accredited to Georgia, President Mikheil Saakashvili said, “he [Walter Schwimmer] said that both sides [central authorities and Abashidze’s regime] have lost their ability to dialogue as if both sides were equally responsible for what was happening.”
“It was not a statement of a true European; it was a statement of impudent and well-paid bureaucrat,” Saakashvili added.
Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee for Foreign Relations Kote Gabashvili said on May 10 that Georgia seeks to expel CoE Secretary General’s Representative Plamen Nikolov, for “providing inadequate information to the CoE’s head office.”
On May 10 Saakashvili continued his severe criticism of Walter Schwimmer, saying that “his position was extremely unconstructive. I do not know how Aslan Abashidze could please him.”
CoE Secretary General Walter Schwimmer and his special representative in Georgia Plamen Nikolov were actively engaged in the mediation process during the standoff between the Abashidze’s regime and country’s central government.
Aslan Abashidze visited Strasbourg and held talks with Walter Schwimmer twice during past five months. Walter Schwimmer arrived in Batumi during his visit to Georgia in February to meet Abashidze. CoE’s Secretary General’s visit to Batumi coincided with the violent break-up of the opposition rally by the Abashidze’s supporters. Saakashvili said Schwimmer “simply walked away” after the incident, failing to point out the responsibility of Abashidze.
In recent years, Georgia, which joined 45-member Council of Europe in 1999, has often become a subject of criticism for failure to fulfill number of commitments undertaken before the jointing of the organization.
Ex-President Shevardnadze government tried to downplay CoE’s criticism; however President Saakashvili’s posture is the first severe criticism towards the CoE coming from the Georgian government.
“This organization always supported Georgia in times of trouble and we were expecting similar support during the Adjara crisis, which did not happen. This caused President Saakashvili’s harsh criticism,” parliament chairperson Nino Burjanadze said.