The President of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili delivered a speech at the Atlantic Council in Washington DC.

The President of Georgia spoke about those challenges that Georgia had to overcome.

Mikheil Saakashvili said that there were some mistake made, but Georgia resisted all the tests and "today this small country has an opportunity to participate in the process of overcoming the world global challenges", Mikheil Saakashvili stated.

Mikheil Saakashvili spoke about opposition's protest rallies and noted that this wave of protest had a positive impact on the development of Georgian democracy.

It is obviously an honor and pleasure to address you. I have come to Washington to participate in the Nuclear Security Summit, that president Obama hosted this week. I want to thank him for the real leadership in solving this problem. This Summit was really the first step and I share his aspirations. It is necessary to share Georgia's role in resolving this global problem. If we go through Georgian history, also through events that developed during last several years, this role will be obvious. Georgia had no authority on the International arena even several years ago. This was a country where the police was corrupt and the people felt the results of corruption. This was a country of darkness, where the population of the capital had electricity only five hours a day. This was a country that couldn't resist any challenge, but overcoming of these problems became our mission.

The Rose Revolution was not only waving the flags. This was time of real changes for real actions. It was unimaginable that in the region where there is corruption and criminal, democracy could develop. This was a colossal work in order to develop new Georgian society.

Global economic crises had a critical impact on our economy, though we didn't stop construction process.

We have come through a tough period of time, but we still managed to be leaders in doing business. This is our achievement. In EBRD researches Georgia's indicator progresses in several dozens and Russia's rating goes down as a rule.

We build 24 hours a day in Georgia. In 2005 Russia turned off natural gas for us. Now we can export energy recourses to neighboring countries. The military confrontation that took place aimed to zero down this mission and destroy Georgia's statehood.

I want to thank the Congressmen, due to their work Georgia gets assistance that provides real stability.

I want to present a lady, Ekaterine Zguladze, who protects Georgia's dignity together with Georgian police.

She leads the reform by means of which 87 percent of the Georgian population trusts the police.

The development of democracy means keeping order.

There was absolute order in the city even when the major streets of Tbilisi were blocked and the working process of the government was paralyzed because of the ongoing protest rallies for three months last year.

I couldn't enter the Chancellery because some 30 people paralyzed it. It was their right to be there.

Three months later this group of people decided to go home. This harmed our economy greatly.

When the Russian tanks stand quite close to your capital and you calmly meet such protests, this is a real expression of development. We think to create a state that has never existed in this region.

I am proud that together with Orthodox Christian religion we honor the representatives of other confessions.

I can speak about education system that was the source of making money years ago. Now educated young people can have their place in the new educational system.

We understand pretty well that this is not enough.

Our efforts to contribute in world challenges such as terrorism and in joint operations are obvious. We believe in success of Afghan mission.

Georgia is a country where there is bum in economy, where there is high trust of the people towards police and where there is a high degree of freedom.

This is a country of real values that continues construction and development. I consider that Georgia is the only post-Soviet country that managed to dig out everything Soviet from its life. These changes do not occur only for my term of Presidency, this is a change that will transform every Georgians life forever. Georgia continues development and it will never return to the old indication mark, it will never surrender", the President of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili stated.

Press Office
of the President of Georgia