The Georgian Foreign Ministry has condemned recent attacks against German Ambassador Hubert Knirsch and reiterated deep respect towards the diplomatic missions accredited in Georgia.
In a statement released on June 30, the Foreign Ministry said that the German Ambassador “is a worthy representative of his country, looking to deepen ties between Georgia and Germany with his professionalism, bring Georgia closer to the ‘collective West’.”
The Ministry maintained that it finds “such irresponsible actions utterly unacceptable, which, unfortunately, have become more and more frequent on behalf of individual politicians, media and [certain] members of the general public.”
“We believe that such offensive and outright untrue campaigns that were launched against the German Ambassador only exacerbate the anti-Western sentiments already present in our country,” the Ministry noted.
On behalf of Georgian diplomats, the Foreign Ministry expressed support to all diplomatic missions accredited in Georgia in their professional endeavors.
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Controversy around the German diplomat emerged after the latter stated on June 26 that the 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.
MP Giga Bokeria of the European Georgia party and Shalva Natelashvili of the Labor Party criticized the Ambassador for his remarks, with Natelashvili accusing him of being on a payroll of the Georgian Dream and calling on “pro-Russian German government” to recall its ambassador.
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