Former Georgian Defence minister says President refuses to sign his appointment as NATO ambassador

Juansher Burchuladze, Georgia’s former Defence Minister, has confirmed that President Salome Zourabichvili has refused to sign his appointment as Georgia’s ambassador to NATO. According to Burchuladze, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will no longer present his candidacy due to the president’s stance.

“As far as I know, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will no longer present my candidacy for the position of ambassador because the president does not sign it. This process has been prolonged by the president, and recently she has stopped signing any ambassadors at all. We are now considering an embassy in another partner country”, he told the press, asserting the President’s attitude was “harmful” to national interests. 

Speaker of the Parliament Shalva Papuashvili also commented on the President’s position. “Mrs. Salome today, in fact, takes her position outside the constitution. I do not know the specifics, but recently there are candidates she does not sign,” Papuashvili said.

Papuashvili emphasised that according to the Constitution of Georgia, the president appoints and dismisses ambassadors on the recommendation of the government, but Zourabichvili had been allegedly neglecting this duty. The president’s administration has not clarified this issue yet.

On October 16, 2023, the Constitutional Court of Georgia ruled that Zourabichvili violated the constitution by travelling to three EU countries without the government’s consent. A constitutional submission was filed by 80 MPs of the parliamentary majority on September 14.

During the impeachment vote, the ruling power could not gather the required 100 MPs to support Zourabichvili’s removal from office. Only 86 MPs voted in favour of impeachment.