I would like to welcome everybody.

I would like to welcome our guests, the Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee of America Senator Richard Lugar, our friend, the Deputy Defense Minister of France Mister D'Amecourt and other foreign guests!

Today is an extremely important day for us.

Today we are inaugurating one more most modern base in Georgia.

We have one of the smallest countries in the region, but it is the most trained, contemporary and motivated one to protect our country and to fulfill military missions.

We have the Senaki military base, which is the most contemporary, the best-equipped and impressive one on the scale of the former Soviet Union and East Europe.

Today in Sachkhere we are inaugurating a new base, which is equipped in accordance to the best modern European standards.

For the 26th of May of the next year one more base will be opened in Gori, which is equipped as it is inherent for Georgia, Europe and a future country-member of the NATO.

It is extremely important, as we have received a ruined country, where everything was disbanded and destroyed, but today everything has changed.

We have shortened the way to the new Mtskheta Court, which is equipped as well as the ones in Holland and Germany.

It is true, these people will not live like those in America yet, but everything, what we do and will do in the future, should meet the European standards.

Everything, what we make attractively for our children and our people, for our country and its power, we do for the bright future of our country and that is why everything proves to be the best.

I would like to gratify French officers, who train our armed forces here, in the mountainous battalion.

In 1921 Georgia did not have enough political will and sufficient resources in respect to self-defense.

Therefore, the complete staff of the government of Georgia and many other Georgian patriots was compelled to immigrate to France.

Training of Georgian officers by French officers and their presence here is a guarantee of that we shall never have to emigrate either to France or to any other country.

We shall retain our independence, strengthen liberty of Georgia, restore our territorial integrity and will be happy and powerful, and highly protected in our own country.

Reasoning from this, presence of Frenchmen here is an extremely important fact for us.

I would like to express my great gratitude to all of you and to declare the Sachkhere Mountainous Military Base to be inaugurated.

Once again, thank all of you, to our army, armed forces in this very important and historical day.

Communications Office
of the President of Georgia