German Ambassador Peter Fischer: “The door is wide-open for Georgia”

Following the first visit of German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock to Tbilisi last month, German Ambassador to Georgia Peter Fischer spoke to Interpressnews today about the visit, Georgia’s EU membership perspective, situation with ex-President Mikheil Saakashvili and other issues.

Speaking about the German Foreign Minister’s visit he assessed it as very “very good and successful” saying her messages at the official meetings were the same as her public messages, with the main focus on Georgia’s path towards EU. She said that Germany wants Georgia to receive EU candidate status in December this year and, the Ambassador recalled “she said that Germany wants that, the EU wants that.” Amb. Fischer stressed that German Foreign Minister called on the Georgian government not to miss this opportunity and offered support to seize it. The Ambassador said: “We have an interest. The door is wide-open for Georgia. The opportunity is now, not tomorrow, not yesterday, now. And between now and December, Georgia has to walk through the door. There is no back door. There is no side door. You can’t try to sneak under the radar, which means we would like to see more significant progress on the 12 priorities, in particular on the law on deoligarchization, the law on justice reform, and also depolarization”.

The Ambassador expressed confidence that a positive decision can be reached “with an increased effort by the Georgian government with the overwhelming support of Georgian people”. The Ambassador stressed that EU is about countries that sign up to the same values, the same idea of state and society, and that if neighboring countries share those values, then “we want that contribution”.

Asked whether one of the objectives of Minister Baerbock’s visit was to warn the ruling party not to cross the red lines, against the background of their anti-Western statements, Amb. Fischer said he would not phrase it like that, adding that it is nonsense to accuse Germany or EU in being a part of a “global war party”. He said: “our goal was to avoid this war. And when it broke out due to Russia’s aggression to limit it, not to expand it.” He added: “we understand Georgia’s vulnerabilities and we respect those”. He also noted that the West is trying to imposes a cost on Russia through sanctions.

When asked about the European Commission’s assessment of the alignment of Georgia with the EU acquis published in February 2023, as well as on Georgia track record of implementing the 12 EU conditions, Amb. Fischer said that on the whole the EC report showed good progress. He also said: “However, Georgia was given the 12 recommendations because an essential part of the criteria is what we call the core values of a pluralistic democratic society: independent judiciary system, free and independent media, protection of minority rights, and a vigorous, lively civil society participation in the democratic process.” He expressed hope that Georgia will show more clear progress in this core area, which relates to being a sustainable, pluralistic democracy.

Asked whether he sees a threat of Georgia’s exclusion from the Western orbit in case it does not receive a candidate status in December, Ambassador said it is the people of Georgia who will decide in which orbit Georgia is. He stressed that EU has an interest in offering more than just being “on our orbit”: “…we offer Georgia to become a member of our Union. He added this is in Georgians’ interest, all the while stressing: “but it is the Georgians who need to define their interests”. He added: “It is in our interests that Georgia not be in the orbit of other powers.”

Asked about whether he thinks former President Mikheil Saakashvili should be transferred abroad for treatment, the Ambassador said it is the responsibility of the Georgian government to give adequate medical treatment to someone in custody, underscoring that “this is a human right” that any person should have. The Ambassador said: “… if we can be helpful in any way, please let us know. We would like to be helpful”.

Asked about the bilateral Georgian-German relations and in what directions they can deepen, as well as what his advice would be regarding the Euro-Atlantic integration, Amb. Fischer said his advice is to continue making progress on the 12 EU recommendations and continue the “solid work” that Georgia and NATO do together, including every-day work on “technical issues”. As for the bilateral relations, Ambassador noted they have been developing in a variety of directions, including skills development, such as vocational training, but also on academic level, in energy sector, environment, urban training and other directions. The Ambassador stressed the role of businesses in deepening economic cooperation, for which governments should provide a “helpful framework”. He also noted the importance of the middle corridor concept saying this is a big opportunity for Georgia to provide logistics, transport, energy on a regional level. He also stressed that “the closer Georgia gets to the EU, the more German companies will come”.

Responding to the question about the ability of EU to maintain a strong common position towards the Russian-Ukrainian war if the war lasts longer, the Ambassador stressed that EU and its economies did not collapse “because it’s a fantastic, wonderful idea and a Union that people enter into voluntarily” because they believe in pluralistic democracy, free market, and in freedom and independence. He stressed that what Russia is offering is exactly the opposite.

He said that in spite the debates taking place in the EU on what weapons should be sent to Ukraine and what the level of support there should be, “we will stick to our values” which “are under attack by Russia”. He said his prediction is that EU will not reduce its support to Ukraine, adding: “Ukraine has to emerge from this as a state that has its territorial integrity and its right to self-determination and its freedom to decide its own society”. The Ambassador added: “Russian cannot decide that. Therefore, the attack on Ukraine is like an attack on our own values.”

Also Read:

• 24/03/23 – German FM Annalena Baerbock Visits Georgia
• 23/03/23 – Annalena Baerbock: We See Attempts to Deviate the Country From the Pro-European Course
• 03/02/2023 – EC Publishes Analytical Reports on Alignment with the Acquis
• 17/06/2022 – Conditions First, Candidate Status After – EU Commission Recommends on Georgia
• 17/06/2022 – European Commission’s Memo Detailing Recommendations for Georgia

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