Bregadze condemned Zelensky’s decision
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s decision to expel the Georgian ambassador to Tbilisi is an unprecedented case in diplomatic practice, Georgian Justice Minister Rati Bregadze said.
Georgian Ambassador Giorgi Zakarashvili left Ukraine on 6 July. A few days earlier, Zelensky instructed the Foreign Ministry to express a strong protest to the Georgian diplomat over the situation with former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili and suggest that he leave the country within 48 hours for consultations with Tbilisi.
“As for the statements of the Ukrainian president and the subsequent call to the same by the Georgian ambassador to leave Ukraine and come to Georgia, this is an unknown act in diplomatic practice until then, nothing like this happens and there are practically no examples of it,” Bregadze said.
The head of the Justice Ministry called it absolutely unheard of that a person who stood so courageously with the Ukrainian people, risking his own life, was urged to leave Ukraine and come to Georgia for a consultation about a person who is serving a sentence in a sovereign state.
“What can the Georgian ambassador (consult – ed.) with the Georgian authorities about when there is an enforceable conviction! A person is serving a sentence and there are no formal grounds for his release,” Bregadze said.
As the head of the Ministry of Justice noted, the court refused Saakashvili a postponement or release for health reasons, as well as the European Court of Human Rights refused to transfer him to Poland for treatment.
Earlier, Georgian Foreign Minister Ilya Darchiashvili called Ukraine’s decision devoid of grounds, noting that official Tbilisi will not react to Ukraine’s decision now, but it will become a topic for discussion between the countries in the future.
The leader of the ruling Georgian Dream – Democratic Georgia party Irakli Kobakhidze called Zelensky’s decision insulting for Georgia.
Relations between Georgia and Ukraine
Georgian-Ukrainian relations, already strained by the appointment of former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili as head of Ukraine’s National Council of Reforms in 2020, have deteriorated amid the conflict in Ukraine.
The Ukrainian side sharply criticises the Georgian authorities for refusing to impose sanctions against Russia and, moreover, accuses them of helping Russia circumvent Western sanctions. Georgia’s ruling party says senior Ukrainian officials are seeking to drag Georgia into the war to make their position easier.
Georgian Dream leaders say the country’s largest opposition party, the United National Movement, and its associates are also seeking to do the same in Georgia.
Another reason for the deterioration of relations was the sanctions imposed by Ukraine against individual Georgian citizens and companies.
Alexander Ivanishvili, brother of former Georgian Prime Minister and billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili, and his wife Ketevan Kharaidze, as well as Ivanishvili’s cousin, businessman Uchi Mamatsashvili, and his son Tite Mamatsashvili, Georgian Airways and its founder Tamaza Gaiashvili, have fallen under the sanctions.
In addition, Ukraine never appointed an ambassador to Georgia. The last Ukrainian ambassador to Georgia, Ihor Dolhov, was removed from his post on 24 June 2022.
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