Polish Ambassador Says Scolded by MFA over Calls to Close Stalin Museum in Gori

Polish Ambassador to Georgia Mariusz Maszkiewicz said that the Georgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs attempted to ‘put him in his place’ following his calls on the Georgian government to close the museum of Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin’s in Gori.

Asked by a journalist in a video podcast by SOVA News, whether he had been summoned to the MFA, Maszkiewicz said that MFA made unofficial remarks to him, but that his response to the MFA’s “informal” scolding included ‘a very rude word,’ which he declined to elaborate on, adding that as a representative of Poland his reaction could not have been otherwise.

He added: “Look, Georgian officers who served in the Polish army were also killed in Katyn, and this is a problem that is not subject to any discussion… it is not a problem of any religious feelings or emotions – it is just the objective truth that should be accepted as a diagnosis of the disease.”

In March 2022, while taking part in the Rondeli Foundation conference on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, he called on the Georgian side at least “make one symbolic gesture” and  “close the Stalin Museum in Gori.” “I would like to tell to my Georgian friends that I have one proposal. I understand that you are in a very difficult situation. You have a small country, a big neighbor, a difficult economic situation, and you cannot speak against Russia and support the sanctions,” – said Ambassador.

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