President: Questions over August remain unanswered
By Gvantsa Gabekhadze
Tuesday, September 8
President of Georgia Giorgi Margvelashvili has stated that the main questions raised in Georgia in 2008 and then further emphasized in Ukraine in 2014 remain unanswered.
This statement was made by Margvelashvili in his speech at the international conference in Tbilisi on September 7, entitled “Europe's New Geopolitical Landscape. Security, Economic Opportunities, Freedom and Human Dignity in the Frontline Countries".
He stressed that people attending the conference were going to answer the most difficult questions about the greatest challenges and that it was only logical that the conference was held in Tbilisi, Georgia.
"This is a place where six years ago we all witnessed some very big question marks over Europe's stability emerging.
“In August of 2008 we all saw that something different was going on in our region, and in this country. This ‘different thing’ was the Russian troops infringing on an independent and sovereign state. This crisis began suddenly, but all of us could guess than that similar events would continue,” he said.
According to him, today we see the fact that European stability and security are open issues, and the questions raised in 2008 remain unanswered.
Without the answers, the President said, none of the representatives of the Eastern Partnership and even Europeans themselves will be able to feel stable or safe.
At the same conference, the Prime Minister Spoke about Georgia’s foreign course and its allies.
PM Irakli Gharibashvili thanked Senator John McCain and the McCain Institute, which was one of the hosts of the event, for supporting Georgia.
"The U.S. is the main strategic ally of Georgia, while Senator McCain is one of the strongest supporters of Georgia in Congress. We have exchanged our honest opinions many times and I know how he cares for our country,” Garibashvili said.
He stated that Georgia was at the frontline of many great challenges faced by at the international community.
"Our generation of leaders understands that the country cannot repeat mistakes of the past and we need to double efforts in order to ensure safer, freer and more prosperous future,” he said.
According to the Prime Minister, the main component of Georgia’s democratic development is the European and Euro-Atlantic integration. He also spoke about the reforms carried out in Georgia and emphasized the importance of strengthening of democracy.
"Since coming into power, we have created a management system that is more open and accountable to the people. We strengthened our democratic system through establishing real responsibility and decentralization in favor of local authorities. This government is focused on the issues of ordinary Georgians,” he said.
Commenting on the statements the opposition parties claim that the current Georgian government failed as it did not manage to advance the country and defeat poverty and unemployment in Georgia.
