Germany recalls envoy to Georgia amid growing tensions

Berlin is recalling for consultations its ambassador to Georgia, Peter Fischer, after he became the target of attacks from the pro-Russia government of the South Caucasus country, the German foreign ministry announced on Sunday.

“For many months, the Georgian leadership has been agitating against the EU, Germany and also German Ambassador Fischer personally,” the Federal Foreign Office wrote on X in a post announcing the decision to recall the ambassador “for consultations on how to proceed.”

The situation in Georgia, which last December inaugurated its new President Mikheil Kavelashvili, a far-right firebrand and former footballer, amid claims his controversial election was a sham, is going to be discussed at a meeting of EU foreign affairs ministers on Monday.

Georgia halted the country’s EU accession process triggering protests in the streets and the withdrawal of the German ambassador comes after a prolonged escalation between Georgia’s Russian-oriented head of government Irakli Kobakhidze and Fischer.

The Georgian foreign ministry last month summoned the German ambassador, suggesting in a statement that he was part of attempts to promote a “radical agenda within the country” and warned Fischer not to interfere in Georgia’s internal affairs.

German weekly Der Spiegel reported Sunday that among other things, the diplomat brooked trouble by attending court hearings against members of the opposition. The newspaper also said Fischer had been criticized by Tbilisi after renting the house of an opposition politician.

The German ambassador is not the only target of the pro-Moscow government. On Thursday, Georgia’s interior ministry fined Finland’s foreign minister after she expressed support for protesters at a pro-EU, anti-government rally in Tbilisi.