Ruling party head: gov’t could make “diplomatic response” to Czech ambassador’s allegations on exports to Russia
Georgian news outlet Netgazeti on Wednesday quoted Mikiska as saying in 2022 the export of Czech products to Georgia had almost doubled compared to last year and claiming at least a part of the difference had gone to Russia. Photo: Georgian Dream Press Office
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Irakli Kobakhidze, the chair of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Thursday said there could be a “diplomatic response” if an allegation by Czech ambassador Petr Mikyska about Czech-made products being exported from Georgia to Russia was confirmed to have been made.
Georgian news outlet Netgazeti on Wednesday quoted Mikyska as saying in 2022 the export of Czech products to Georgia had almost doubled compared to last year and claiming at least a part of the difference had gone to Russia.
In his remarks, Kobakhidze noted similar statements had been made by high-ranking officials of the Ukrainian government before the claims being retracted.
This is the first time I hear this statement [from the ambassador], but if this statement was made, it is really incredible. We have heard such statements from Ukrainian authorities in the past, and then they had to deny it themselves, and everyone absolutely denied such a thing”, Kobakhidze said.
“If such a statement was made, it needs to be responded to, because at the time, we responded to the statements of the Ukrainian high-ranking officials and they had to take their claims back. In this case we will have the same [diplomatic] response if this statement was [actually] made”, he concluded.
Georgia's Revenue Service on Friday "categorically and with full responsibility" declared the media report on Wednesday that cited the Czech Ambassador as saying Czech-made products had been exported from Georgia to Russia in a circumvention of international sanctions as "false information".
Petr Mikyska, the Czech Ambassador to Georgia, on Friday said the media had "misinterpreted" his comments about Czech-made products being exported to Russia via Georgia.
Georgian foreign minister Ilia Darchiashvili on Wednesday said NATO partners had “very clearly” stated their support for a progressive integration of Georgia into the alliance, adding the process would “definitely” continue.
The “friendly and productive” ties between Georgia and Germany were discussed on Wednesday in a meeting between the Georgian parliament speaker Shalva Papuashvili and Bärbel Bas, president of the German Bundestag.
Irakli Kobakhidze, the chair of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Wednesday said Georgia’s capital Tbilisi would be a “city of peace” and added the country was wishing the same for Ukraine amid the Russian invasion of the latter.
Romanian, Latvian and Slovenian foreign ministers pledged their support for Georgia’s NATO integration at the ongoing meeting of the alliance’s FMs in Bucharest on Tuesday.
The Czech Embassy in Georgia on Friday said Petr Mikyska, the Czech Ambassador to Georgia, valued the “principled” position of Georgian authorities on the international sanctions against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine and “detailed” that his comments had been disseminated “out of context” by the media about Czech-made products exported to Russia via Georgia.