Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili sharply criticized Germany’s Ambassador to Georgia, Peter Fischer, after a photo circulated showing the ambassador standing with Mamuka Tsutskridze, one of the participants in recent anti-government protests. Speaking to journalists, Papuashvili called the incident “outrageous” and accused the ambassador of expressing solidarity with “extremists” who, he said, insult the Georgian Orthodox Church and its Patriarch.
“Yesterday, the German ambassador was posing with a person who insults the Georgian Church. I do not understand how society is supposed to view this. It is absolutely outrageous,” Papuashvili said, adding that Germany’s Foreign Ministry “must decide what it wants.”
Papuashvili claimed that the ambassador’s actions amount to “mocking the Georgian state, Georgian society, and diplomatic principles.” He recalled that Fischer had not condemned the October 4 attempt to storm the Presidential Palace, and now, he argued, was “openly expressing support for extremist participants of that assault.”
Papuashvili said the government learned “by chance” that Fischer had taken a photo with Tsutskridze, who, he alleged, has publicly insulted the Georgian Patriarch and referred to him as an exarch. “What is this, if not an attack on the Georgian Church?” Papuashvili asked. He also invoked earlier criticism by German MP Michael Roth, saying Fischer’s gesture “continues that same line.”
The Speaker stressed that Berlin must clarify whether the ambassador’s behaviour reflects Germany’s official policy or his personal initiative. “Germany’s Foreign Ministry must explain whether Ambassador Fischer has been sent here to express solidarity with people who insult the Georgian Church and to support extremists — or if he is acting on his own.”
Papuashvili added that Fischer had recently returned from consultations in Berlin, during which, he said, Germany assured Georgian officials that the ambassador would avoid actions that had previously caused tension. “It has been only a few days, and he has already mocked our society and our state,” Papuashvili stated.
He further suggested that if the ambassador did not know who he was photographed with, that would raise additional concerns: “If he is so unqualified that he does not know where he is going and who he is meeting, that is an even greater mockery of the Georgian state.”
Papuashvili concluded by saying that Germany must now choose whether it wants to “build bridges” with the Georgian public or “burn those bridges completely.”
The protest participant in question, Mamuka Tsutskridze, confirmed on social media that Ambassador Fischer had been present on Rustaveli Avenue during the demonstration.
