The Finnish Foreign Minister violated all international norms and rules applicable in this case when a representative of the OSCE chair country visits any participating state within the OSCE framework, stated Georgia’s Foreign Minister Maka Botchorishvili.
According to her, the Georgian authorities acted within the framework permitted by international rules.
Botchorishvili also noted that with only 1.5 months left of Finland’s OSCE chairmanship, one might question the significance of the visit, but Georgia did not hinder its implementation.
“The Finnish Foreign Minister was in Georgia with a specific mandate as the Foreign Minister of the OSCE chair country, a visit that takes place annually in Georgia. Despite the fact that her visit, at the end of the chairmanship, had no practical value for Georgia, it would have been meaningful if she had come in January, February, or March, at the beginning of the year when Finland’s chairmanship agenda was still ahead. That would have had significance. When only 1.5 months remain of the chairmanship, one might question how meaningful such a visit is. Nevertheless, based on Georgia’s position and our principles of working within international organizations, we did not obstruct this visit. On the contrary, we facilitated its implementation, and the Finnish Foreign Minister visited Georgia as part of her South Caucasus tour as the OSCE chair country. In reality, she violated all international norms and rules applicable in this case when a representative of the chair country visits any participating state within the OSCE framework. I believe it became clear – there are 57 participating states, and our response was within the framework of diplomacy. We did not start making comments from the streets or uploading videos to the X platform. We acted within the framework allowed by international rules. A note was sent, which was received by all OSCE participating states. This note received a response, and that response is significant. Out of 57 countries, only 10 participating states supported or justified the actions of the Finnish Foreign Minister, so to speak, or endorsed her conduct. This means something – when only 10 out of 57 countries support your actions, perhaps it’s time to reflect,” Botchorishvili stated in an interview with Rustavi 2.
Maka Botchorishvili: Our response was within the framework of diplomacy; we did not start making comments from the streets or uploading videos to X – a note was sent to all 57 OSCE participating states, and only 10 supported the actions of the Finnish Foreign Minister
