The Delegation of the European Union to Georgia in agreement with the EU Heads of Mission issued on June 29 the statement over recent controversial remarks made against Hubert Knirsch, the German Ambassador to Georgia.
“We condemn the attacks of certain political actors and media outlets against our colleague, Hubert Knirsch, the Ambassador of Germany,” reads the statement, adding that “all actors supporting the democratic and European path of Georgia should refrain from accusations of a disrespectful nature and uphold the human dignity of everybody who is active in public life.”
Endorsing the statement on his Twitter, French Ambassador to Georgia Diégo Colas said “people can always disagree but should do so respectfully.”
Talking to Georgian reporters on June 26, the German Ambassador argued that March 8 deal between the ruling Georgian Dream and opposition parties, which he mediated together with the EU and U.S. Ambassadors, did not refer to Giorgi Rurua, the shareholder of opposition-leaning Mtavari Arkhi TV.
Georgian opposition parties insist that the March 8 deal in its spirit included the release of “political prisoners,” including Giorgi Rurua, while the ruling party keeps denying the claim by the opposition.
Criticizing German Ambassador’s remarks, MP Giga Bokeria of the European Georgia party said the Ambassador seemed “lost in translation” and was seeking to “find a way out” of the controversy.
Shalva Natelashvili, the leader of the Labor Party, went so far as to accuse the German envoy of being on a payroll of the Georgian Dream and called on “pro-Russian German government” to recall its ambassador.
