Germany Designates Barbara Voss as New Ambassador to Georgia

**Germany Appoints Barbara Voss as New Ambassador to Georgia**

Germany has designated career diplomat Barbara Voss as its new ambassador to Georgia, succeeding Peter Fischer, whose tenure ended in late June amid strained diplomatic relations between the two nations.

Voss has served in the German foreign service since 1992, with experience across the Berlin headquarters and multiple overseas postings. Most recently, she served as Consul General in Kolkata, India, from 2023 to 2026.

Her prior diplomatic assignments include serving as Deputy Head of Division for Cultural and Media Relations with the Maghreb, Near East, and Middle East at the Foreign Office from 2019 to 2023, and as Desk Officer for International Cooperation in the Fight Against Terrorism from 2015 to 2019. Her international postings include service as a desk officer for economic relations at the German Embassy in Pakistan (2012–2015), a consul at the German Embassy in Israel (2009–2012), as well as postings at German embassies in Nigeria and Tanzania, and the German Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York between 1996 and 2005.

Serving as Ambassador-Designate in Georgia since August, Voss stated on the German Embassy in Tbilisi’s website: “The current tensions are placing a strain on Germany’s and the EU’s relations with Georgia. Nevertheless, Germany’s commitment to the country’s democratic and pro-European course remains unchangedly strong.”

Voss’s appointment follows a period of bilateral friction surrounding her predecessor, Peter Fischer. Fischer’s tenure was marked by open criticism of the ruling Georgian Dream party’s policies and anti-Western rhetoric. This period saw diplomatic summonses by both the Georgian Foreign Ministry and the German Foreign Office, verbal attacks and accusations from Georgian Dream figures and allied media outlets, and defense of the ambassador by Berlin.

As tensions escalated, Berlin temporarily recalled Fischer for consultations over what the German Foreign Office characterized as months of Georgian leaders agitating against the European Union, Germany, and the ambassador.

Simultaneously, Tbilisi raised concerns over delays in Berlin accepting the credentials of Georgian Ambassador Alexander Kartozia. Kartozia formally presented his credentials to German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier on July 23, ten months following his appointment.

Commenting in July on the credentials ceremony, Georgian Dream Foreign Minister Maka Botchorishvili expressed hope that the event, alongside the arrival of a new German ambassador, would help return bilateral relations to a normal framework and further develop ties to serve the mutual interests of both countries, following what she termed a “rather negative dynamic” in recent times.

Article and image source: civil.ge