Irakli Kobakhidze, chair of the ruling Georgian Dream party, claimed on July 20 that the EU Ambassador to Georgia, Carl Hartzell, played a wholly negative role in relations between the European Union and Georgia. According to MP Kobakhidze, "The party avoided commenting on him during this period for a variety of reasons, including the fact that we had already submitted an application to the European Union and this process was still ongoing."
Moreover, Kobakhidze stated, "We hope the incoming Ambassador will act differently." Importantly, Pawel Herczynski will replace Hartzell as the head of the European Union's Delegation to Georgia. He formerly served as the Polish Ambassador to the Political and Security Committee (PSC).
Peter Stano, the lead spokesperson for the EU's foreign policy, responded to the governing party's criticism of Carl Hartzell. Stano emphasised that providing reforms and the EU agenda is the responsibility of local politicians, adding that blaming others for one's unfulfilled ambitions just highlights the need for more time to comprehend how the European Union functions and that changes are necessary. He emphasised, "Carl Hartzell performed a tremendous job for EU-Georgia relations and the EU completely supports him."
After Stano’s remarks, the leader of the ruling Georgian Dream party, doubled down on previous criticism of the former Carl Hartzell. The MP highlighted that the party's criticism of Hartzell was quite substantial. Kobakhidze noted that the MEP delegation that visited the country this week expressed concern over his remarks, noting that: "They stated one thing that it is preferable to criticise politicians rather than diplomats. In response, we stated that, precisely because Carl Hartzell acted as a politician and not as an Ambassador, we were compelled to evaluate his work as we did."
