Statement by the embassies of 27 countries in Georgia
The embassies of 27 countries in Georgia issued a joint statement responding to accusations by the authorities over the role and activities of diplomatic missions in the country. The statement said such allegations “undermine the ability of diplomatic missions to carry out their duties.”
Representatives of the ruling Georgian Dream party have repeatedly accused EU and partner country ambassadors of supporting violence and extremism in Georgia. For example, parliament speaker Shalva Papuashvili accused Germany’s ambassador, Peter Fischer, of backing “titushki” who attacked Georgian Dream’s Tbilisi headquarters.
Papuashvili also claimed that an ambassador’s involvement in an election campaign and in encouraging violence was a breach of the Vienna Convention.
In their joint statement, the 27 embassies stressed that meetings with both government officials and representatives of the opposition and civil society are fully in line with the Vienna Convention.
Statement by the embassies
“A statement on behalf of the Embassies of Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, the European Union, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom
We firmly reject the baseless and damaging accusations about the role and activities of some diplomatic missions in Georgia. Such disinformation misleads the public and undermines possibility for our diplomatic missions to carry out our duties.
For diplomats, meeting a broad range of actors – government, opposition, civil society and citizens at large – is a normal part of diplomatic work, and fully consistent with the Vienna Convention. We do not support any particular political party and claims that we support violence and extremism are simply not true. As a matter of fact we appeal to all actors to reject and condemn any form of violence.
We urge all political leaders to refrain from divisive rhetoric and to work towards de-escalation of tensions”.
Statement by the embassies of 27 countries in Georgia