Estonian Ambassador Marge Mardisalu-Kahar will end her mission in Georgia on March 10 and move to Yerevan as ambassador to Armenia, while chargé d’affaires Gita Kalmet will lead the embassy in Tbilisi until a new ambassador is appointed. The Estonian Foreign Ministry notified Kalmet of the changes on February 11.
Appointed Estonia’s ambassador to Georgia in 2024, Mardisalu-Kahar was accredited to both Georgia and Armenia but resided in Tbilisi. With Estonia set to open its embassy in Yerevan in March, she will become the first Estonian ambassador to live there.
In its coverage, Estonia’s public broadcaster emphasized that the changes come amid “cooling relations between Estonia and the Georgian government, while contacts with Armenia are intensifying.”
The official website of the Estonian Foreign Ministry states on Georgia, “Estonia has long contributed to Georgia’s Euro-Atlantic integration, but due to the systematic drift of the Georgian authorities away from democracy, including the shortcomings in fulfilling the conditions set for EU candidate status, supporting Georgian institutions is no longer a foreign policy priority for Estonia.”
It adds that “Estonia contributes to the development of civil society and free media” and “consistently supports the territorial integrity of Georgia. An Estonian expert is working in the EU monitoring mission in Georgia.”
Relations between Georgia and Estonia, along with other Baltic states, have sharply deteriorated over the past several years amid Georgian Dream’s anti-democratic course and crackdown on dissent. Bilateral relations have been marked by repeated verbal attacks and accusations by Georgian Dream authorities against Estonian diplomats and officials, as well as Estonia’s sanctions in response to the government’s crackdown on protests.
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