Ambassador of Georgia Irakli Koplatadze announced about his resignation from the post of the Ambassador of Georgia to Slovenia. In his post on Facebook he writes that he is resigning after 18 years of continuous diplomatic service, saying it has been a “privilege” to serve “the best interests of Georgia’s independence and joining the European Union and NATO.”
The former Ambassador lists Georgia’s achievements on the path of NATO and EU integration and thanks colleagues “at home and abroad, Georgian ambassadors of international level, employees of embassies in different countries, ministers, prime ministers and presidents with whom I had to work and who made at least a small contribution to Georgia’s historic path to join the European Union and NATO.” Amb. Koplatadze writes: “I am not saying goodbye. We’ll meet in the service of the country. Where are we going? To Europe!”
The former Ambassador in his post also refers to “telephone calls” that he had received from Azerbaijani numbers because, because as he writes, he expressed tolerance for “the constitutional guarantor of modern Georgian statehood”, the Georgian President. [It’s not immediately clear whether the calls mentioned by the former Ambassador are part of a massive intimidation campaign against regime critics, many of whom have received threats from phone numbers overseas.]
Earlier today, Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili addressed a video message to Georgian Ambassadors to Europe and the United States, who are currently gathered in Berlin by Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze for a conference telling them: “You are in the middle of Europe, and you are listening to lies, lies that our European voyage seemingly continues.“ She said: “I am not going to lecture you or make any suggestions. I want to say that Georgia’s ordinary citizens will be facing extraordinary choices on October 26 [Parliamentary elections], but for you, the time to choose is now.”
Irakli Koplatadze has been the Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of Georgia to the Republic of Slovenia since 2018. Before that, in 2013-2018, he headed Georgia’s diplomatic mission in Turkey.