Danish Ambassador summoned to Georgian foreign office over comment on former PM

Anne Toft Sørensen, the Danish Ambassador to Georgia, was on Thursday summoned to the country’s foreign office after mentioning Bidzina Ivanishvili, the former PM and the founder of the ruling Georgian Dream party, as “oligarch” in an article published in the Danish media.

Posted on the Danish news portal Jyllands-Posten on Wednesday, the article saw Sørensen say “the oligarch Bidzina Ivanishvili built a fortune in Russia in the 90s”. 

Earlier today Kakha Kaladze, the Mayor of Tbilisi and the Secretary General of Georgian Dream, called the Ambassador's comment “filth”. 

The Danish Ambassador's statement is simply filth. The public knows very well what Bidzina Ivanishvili has done for our country, the most important thing this person did was defeating the terrible, bloody regime [of the United National Movement party] in 2012”, he said. 

Beka Davituliani, a GD MP, said the diplomat’s words were “completely unacceptable” as “it is not her job to interfere in the internal political processes and internal affairs of the country”.

Ivanishvili returned to domestic politics in late December through being elected the Honorary Chair of Georgian Dream.

In its comments on the controversy, the Danish Embassy said the "excerpt from a Danish article" was "being used out of context in Georgian debates”, and added it had "no desire to contribute to the above" and would refrain from making additional comments.