A gross violation of the generally accepted rules of protocol is not allowed - the administration of the president

Today, the administration of the President of Georgia issues a statement regarding Salome Zurabishvili's non-attendance at the ambassadors' conference. The agency explains that the generally recognized and established rules of state and diplomatic protocol were violated.

The agency says that during the participation in the conference, a place corresponding to her status was not determined for the President of Georgia.

In addition, the administration says that 6 months after the filing of the constitutional appeal regarding the appointment of ambassadors, the presidential administration does not have any information regarding the said process.

"The conference of ambassadors was opened today. The President of Georgia welcomes the participants of the ambassadorial, thanks the diplomatic corps of Georgia for their activities during the period full of the most difficult challenges and wishes all Georgian diplomats a successful new year in 2023.

For the President of Georgia, the embassy is the most important forum in relations with the diplomatic corps of Georgia. Despite this, the President did not participate in the opening event of the 2022 Ambassadors' Conference.

According to the Constitution of Georgia, the President of Georgia is the head of the state of Georgia. The Constitution gives the highest status to the institution of the President in relation to all other state institutions.

Based on the above, gross violations of the generally recognized and established rules of state and diplomatic protocol are not allowed in the events of state institutions, especially at the main diplomatic conference organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia. Such a violation, unfortunately, took place at the opening event of the ambassadors' conference and was expressed by the host of the event in not assigning the appropriate place for the President of Georgia during her participation in the conference.

The Administration of the President of Georgia also considers it important to inform the public about the appointment of ambassadors by the President.

Six months after filing a lawsuit in the Constitutional Court regarding the constitutionality of the inaction of the President of Georgia regarding the appointment and dismissal of Georgian ambassadors and heads of diplomatic missions, the Presidential Administration does not have any information regarding the said process.

The ambiguity created by the mentioned constitutional lawsuit regarding the constitutional powers of the President requires timely elimination, based on the state interests of Georgia," the statement said.