Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze has once again lashed out at the EU Ambassador to Tbilisi, Paweł Herczyński. He was responding to remarks made by the diplomat on November 4 following the release of a critical European Union report on Georgia. Herczyński stated that the ruling Georgian Dream party had rendered the substance of dialogue with the EU meaningless. In response, Kobakhidze called him a “tragic figure.”
“Even more tragic than his predecessor, Mr. Hartzell. You know how Mr. Hartzell ended his diplomatic career. He was forced to do everything against the Georgian people, and in the end, he was not even granted a decent job. The same is happening here: Mr. Herczyński is being forced to do everything against the Georgian people, and that is precisely why this individual is truly tragic. No other comment can be made about him.”
Kobakhidze claimed that the diplomat had directly and crudely meddled in the country’s democratic elections, openly campaigned against the authorities ahead of the vote, and acted “in favor of the radical opposition—in favor of these unconstitutional parties.” The Prime Minister added that the EU ambassador had “directly encouraged violence in our country.”
“Yesterday, the EU ambassador attacked the Georgian people, and I am responding to that. It wasn’t me who started it; it was he who attacked the Georgian people yesterday. When you attack the government elected by the Georgian people, it is an attack on the Georgian people. They chose this path, and we are responding. Every time, we are in response mode. We never strike first with our critical statements. They say things, and they say them in an utterly disgraceful, unsubstantiated manner, and we are forced to respond to all of it,” Irakli Kobakhidze added.