A visit made by Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili to Germany that was not coordinated with the national government has been strongly criticized by the ruling Georgian Dream party and lauded by the opposition.

Zourabichvili began her European tour on Thursday with a meeting with German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, the Georgian presidential administration said. The trip to European capitals is aimed to secure support for Georgia's EU candidate status, it said.

The president's visit to Germany "flagrantly breaches the national constitution," the head of the ruling Georgian Dream party Irakli Kobakhize said at a press briefing on Thursday. "Zourabichvili took an oath of allegiance to the constitution but has flagrantly violated it, and her actions will not go unanswered," he said.

Georgia is a parliamentary republic, where the government implements domestic and foreign policy, he said.

On Wednesday, the Georgian government office released a statement saying that Zourabichvili's trip to Europe was not official, as it had been undertaken without the government's consent.

In contrast, Georgian opposition welcomed Zourabichvili's European tour and expressed hope that pardoning incarcerated former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili by the president would be discussed at meetings in European capitals.