Parliament Speaker laments “incompetence” after Danish Ambassador’s comments on former PM sparks controversy

Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili on Friday said it was “sad and regrettable” that “incompetence of diplomats” was “damaging” the image of the countries they represented among the Georgian public, after comments by Anne Toft Sørensen, the Danish Ambassador, about Bidzina Ivanishvili, the former Prime Minister and the founder of the ruling Georgian Dream party, in media caused controversy earlier during the week.

Sørensen referred to the former official as “oligarch” in an article published in the Danish media on Wednesday, remarks for which she was summoned to the Georgian Foreign Ministry on Thursday. The Danish Embassy on Thursday said the diplomat’s comments had been used “out of context”.

In his response, Papuashvili said the Embassy’s comments had “explained this situation by the incompetence of the Ambassador”.

[The Embassy said] that she could not formulate her opinion in a way that was understood correctly and did not involve speculations and did not lead to other explanations. When the statement is about a misunderstanding of the context, it appears that the Ambassador was not properly competent”, the Parliament Speaker added.

“It is sad and regrettable that incompetence of diplomats ultimately causes damage to the image of represented countries in the eyes of the Georgian public. As for my statement regarding the Ambassador's incompetence, I hope that the Danish Embassy will also understand this in the appropriate context”, he noted.

Georgia’s foreign office on Thursday said Sørensen had explained that her article intended to express her country’s support for Georgia’s European integration and stressed “it is unfortunate that opponents used it in a negative context”.

The Ministry also said it was “regrettable” that the article contained “significant factual inaccuracies and biased assessments”, and stressed it would “not contribute to the formation of a positive attitude of the international community, including Danish readers, towards Georgia”.