Irakli Gharibashvili: Of course, I will not respond to Mrs. President from this rostrum - the Government has a very qualified head of the protocol service

Of course, I will not respond to Mrs. President from this rostrum, I want to wish her a successful day this is how Prime Minister Irakli Gharibashvili responded to the statement of President Salome Zurabishvili, which she made during her speech at the "Diaspora Forum 2023" at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

In response to Salome Zurabishvili's remark regarding the protocol, Gharibashvili said that "the Government has a very qualified head of the protocol service".

"I want to mention one thing, we have a festive mood, yesterday we celebrated Georgia's Independence Day in a special way, and I, as an ordinary citizen, have always thought so, and I still think so today, that we unite at least this day, and this day should be a day of mutual respect, expression of love, and this should be a unifying day - that would be my answer. As far as the rules of protocol are concerned, the Government has a very qualified Chief of Protocol, Mr. David Zantaraia. I want to thank him, I also want to thank all the employees of Mr. Ilia Darchiashvili's office, the representatives of the consulates, the leaders, I want to thank everyone," Gharibashvili said.

For information, today, in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the President of Georgia, Salome Zurabishvili, spoke about the violation of the protocol. According to Zurabishvili, "this is the reason for the first pointles controversy". The President also criticized Defense Minister Juansher Burchuladze and noted that "on May 26, the Minister of Defense should not first greet the Prime Minister and then the President, the Supreme Commander-in-Chief".