Europe Day Celebration in Rike Park

By Levan Abramishvili

Tuesday, May 7

'[Relations between the EU and Georgia] have never been stronger than they are today' HE Carl Hartzell.

'More Europe in Georgia and more Georgia in Europe' President Salome Zourabichvili

Kakha Kaladze, Mayor of Tbilisi, Mamuka Bakhtadze, Prime Minister of Georgia, Salome Zourabichvili, President of Georgia, and the Ambassador of the European Union, HE Carl Hartzell.

The Delegation of the European Union to Georgia, together with the embassies of the EU Member States in Georgia and Tbilisi City Hall celebrated Europe Day on Sunday, May 4th in Rike Park, Tbilisi.

Rike Park was transformed into a large celebration for a day, taking all visitors on a journey to the European Union with activities taking place throughout the day for children and adults alike.

Visitors had the chance to explore 20 EU Member States and find out more about how the EU is helping create opportunities for Georgian citizens. While children discovered various fairy tale performances and games to play, parents enjoyed the all-day cultural programme and sample food from diverse European nations.

The event was officially opened by Salome Zourabichvili, President of Georgia, Mamuka Bakhtadze, Prime Minister of Georgia, Kakha Kaladze, Mayor of Tbilisi and the Ambassador of the European Union, HE Carl Hartzell.

During his opening speech, Ambassador Hartzell remarked, "On Europe Day, we celebrate the fact that an idea planted 69 years ago has come to unite over 500 million citizens from 28 diverse countries with 24 official languages into one European Union, working towards peace and prosperity for its citizens. It is also an opportunity for us to highlight the close relations between the EU and Georgia, which have never been stronger than they are today. We look forward to continuing and further developing our cooperation in the years to come.“

While addressing the gathered crowd, the President thanked the European Union for their continuous support of Georgia, recalling the historic connections that the country had with Europe. While recognizing that there were many challenges along the road for Georgia to get where it stands now in terms of the relations with Europe, Zourabichvili once again declared the hopes of Georgia, “our aspirations include more security, more development, more economic progress, more Europe in Georgia and more Georgia in Europe”.

Mamuka Bakhtadze also addressed the crowd, “I am sure that by being united in spirit and action, with unshaken Georgian spirit and support of our European friends, we will reach a day when united, strong and peace-loving Georgia will become a fully-fledged member of the European Union" stated the PM.

Europe Day is celebrated each year on 9th May, to commemorate the 1950 Declaration of Robert Schuman, the French foreign minister at the time. He set out his idea for a new form of political cooperation in Europe, which would make war between Europe's nations unthinkable by asking them to share their coal and steel reserves. This idea was the beginning of what is now the European Union, which today unites 28 countries and 508 million citizens for over 60 years of peace and prosperity.

This year's Europe Day was held under the motto "Stronger Together" to highlight the strong relations between Georgia and the European Union. 2019 is a double anniversary, marking 10 years of the Eastern Partnership and 5 years since the signature of the EU-Georgia Association Agreement.