The Danish Ambassador Summonsed to Foreign Office Over Labeling Former PM as “Oligarch”
On Thursday, the Danish Ambassador to Georgia, Anne Toft Sørensen, faced a summons from Georgia’s foreign office over her characterization of former Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili as an “oligarch” in a Danish media article.
In the article published on Danish news portal Jyllands-Posten, Sørensen claimed, “the oligarch Bidzina Ivanishvili built a fortune in Russia in the 90s.”
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Mayor of Tbilisi and Secretary General of Georgian Dream, Kakha Kaladze, denounced the Ambassador’s comment as “filth.” Kaladze stated, “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 being defeating the terrible, bloody [UNM] regime in 2012.”
Beka Davituliani, a Georgian Dream MP, labeled the diplomat’s words as “completely unacceptable,” adding that “it is not her job to interfere in the internal political processes and internal affairs of the country.”
Ivanishvili, founder of the ruling Georgian Dream party, made a political comeback at the end of December, taking on the role of “Honorary Chairman” of the Georgian Dream party.
In response to the controversy, the Danish Embassy clarified that an “excerpt from a Danish article was being used out of context in the Georgian debates” and stated that it had “no desire to contribute” to the ongoing discussion.
