Georgian PM slams German ambassador over “unserious” remarks

Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze has lashed out at Germany’s ambassador to Georgia, Peter Fischer, describing his recent comments in an interview with Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty as “unserious” and “regrettable”.

“Mr Fischer is clearly not in his right mind. There is no other way to describe it. His recent statements are so unserious that it would be wrong to take them seriously,” Kobakhidze said, News.Az reports, citing Georgia Online.

He added that it was “regrettable and worthy of sorrow” that the ambassador speaks about Georgia’s friendly countries and peoples “in a negative context”, arguing that such remarks “do not deserve any serious assessment”.

Kobakhidze also criticised the German Foreign Ministry for failing to update its official website, which still lists Salome Zourabichvili as president of Georgia and Ilia Darchiashvili as foreign minister.

“Such steps by the German authorities are unserious, just as the German ambassador in Georgia and his actions are unserious,” he said. “We are talking about Germany, a country that has historically stood for principles. These principles have somehow disappeared, which is regrettable.”

He further said that a request to meet the ambassador had also been declined, calling it “another manifestation of this approach”.

Kobakhidze’s remarks came after Fischer, in an interview with Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, said: “Some Georgians know what it means to join the European Union. Others say: I have no better alternative, I do not want to be Russian, Turkish, Iranian or Azerbaijani, and staying only with Armenia may not be enough.”

News.Az