Georgian Foreign Minister Grigol Vashadze’s reaction to the Russian President’s message of congratulation to the Georgian people on the victory over the Nazi Germany, dismissing it as “clownery”, was “supposedly” triggered by the form in which this message was made, Vashadze’s deputy said on May 9.

Nino Kalandadze, the Georgian deputy foreign minister, was referring to the fact that the message was addressed “to the Georgian citizens” not to the President of Georgia.

“When one congratulates to the people, the congratulation is made in address to a legitimate and official representative of that [country]; that’s the only recognized form of relation between the peoples and if that was a sincere congratulation it should have been made in a form as it is accepted in relationship between the peoples,” Kalandadze said at a news conference in a response to a question about the Russian President’s message and a reaction on it from the Georgian Foreign Minister.

She said congratulation in this form was “very unserious”, which triggered the Georgian Foreign Minister “to make a relevant” reaction on the Russian President’s message.