Honored officers, employees of internal entities, honored Ambassadors, distinguished guests!

Today we are opening the office of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. This is the most modern building in Europe. Many European Ambassadors are attending the ceremony today and they won't let me lie or boast.

Believe me I am not talking only about esthetics or architecture.

Georgia has one of the most modern, most effective, most honest and uncorrupted police around the world. Our police is loved by the Georgian society and is honored by them.

This building has transparent walls - we are building transparent police as well.

As this building is different from old police buildings, it is the same difference between today's police and police of Shevardnadze's times.

As everything is clear and clean in this building, so is Georgia clean and clear from organized crime and corruption, which was choking our people and was not letting them to live still.

I do not like to talk about successes a lot, but if there is any sphere that can be proud with it's success and progress, this is police structure and it's reform.

We all remember how we lived several years ago.

This was a country, which had no electricity during the years, which was unable to form Army because of the fear, because in non-existed Army there were strikes going every month - aiming the collapse of the government, there were no elementary living conditions, everything was controlled by an organized crime.

There are many countries in Europe that recently because EU members, but the indicator of crime in their countries is 7-8 times more than what we have in Georgia.

I was watching "Patrol" TV program several days ago. I paid attention to a couple of important points.

The first: The journalists were dressed in police uniform. They used to stop cars and tried to bribe people. I was shocked by the reaction of people (by the way journalists played the roles of the police officers pretty well) because they had only astonished and ironic faces. Everybody thought it was a joke, and nobody considered it reality, because the people have long been used to fact that everything is different in this sphere.

The second moment that I paid attention to was statistics. This was the data of the criminal that happened during last week. According to these data: murder - 0, rubbery - 1, car kidnapping - 0. When I became President 16 cars a day were kidnapped. Nowadays not a single case is fixed during the week.

Let's not forget that for the former Soviet Union Georgia was the same as Palermo for Europe.

Even today 90 percent of leaders of organized crime in Russia are our compatriots. That means our major export to Russia is not wine, but thieves-in-law, criminals and elements like them.

Sure, absolute majority of the Georgians living in Russia and former Soviet Countries are people of high qualification and great patriots of their country.

What we are proud of is the fact that there is no place for thieves in Georgia. When I was a kid many boys of my age dreamed of becoming thieves-in-law. Today children are brought up on absolutely different examples and standards. We are proud that localization of criminal mentality took place in people. It is all abolished, and of course it is a step forward.

The time when ministers used to go to thieves for negotiations no longer exists. Now Mamtajis and Koloshovs have to secretly meet somewhere abroad Georgia. Such people used to come to Tbilisi and Kakha Targamadze and Koba Narchemashvili's escorts met them. Those ministers used to dine together with Koloshovs, Mamtajis and Onianis in Tbilisi restaurants. They were instructed how to manage - more correct to say - how to destroy Georgia. Unfortunately they managed it.

My friends, I will never forget your activities, when our enemy approached the Georgian land from several directions. I drove on that road - from Zugdidi to Tbilisi. Russian grades and bombers intensively bombed this road. I will never forget how our police stood on Rikoti, at Kutaisi, at Khashuri, at the entrance to Gori and were regulating traffic, so that nothing was happening.

The passengers who were panicked, but had to take the same road, calmed down. As the President of this country I was proud that we have such people.

Many of you intensively continued to issue fines and deliver them to addresses. One of my neighbors, who is not actively involved in politics and has no official positions, told me that people were glad to receive fines in those days, this was a signal that the state exists and functions.

It's such real happiness to have people like our people especially in the period of hardship and misfortune.

Russia was not able to collapse Georgian state, our hope and this is why Tbilisi stands and revival continues.

Nobody should think that Georgia will tolerate occupation of its territory; nobody should think that Georgia will not continue strengthening of the state; nobody should think that unlike previous shameful governments, we will sign any capitulatory treaties or agree on partitioning of Georgia's territory.

Our struggle continues and it will end after the complete de-occupation of Georgia's territory and expelling last soldier of the enemy from our country. I am absolutely sure in that. But the main road of our struggle and our main message to our people is that we should save Georgia's economy today, which is the basis of Georgian statehood, we should create new Georgian state.

This is one of the beautiful buildings around the world. Several such buildings are being constructed in Kutaisi. A fundamental and complete reconstruction of Old Tbilisi has already started. Tbilisi will be the most beautiful city, the city that has never existed before in its history. The reconstruction of Telavi will soon start, the reconstruction of Sighnaghi continues, the 21st century architectural and urban miracle is being realized in Batumi and we will bring all these constructions to the end. I bet that Batumi will become one of the most gorgeous and successful city in the whole Black Sea region.

This is not only my stubborn idea - we are practically building a new state.

We are building a state where the tourists are glad to come and they are saved here.

We are building a state, where it is easy to start business and invest money, we are building a state, where there is stability, we are building a state where there is future and people have chances to develop, get educated and get wealthy, to live, get old and be proud of their country.

We are constructing our state building and it is a very difficult process.

Today is the anniversary of the referendum held on March 31, 1990. This is the day when the Georgian people voted for Georgia's independence.

Today is the 70th anniversary of Zviad Gamsakhurdia, the first leader of contemporary Georgia.

When this referendum was held I was a student in Kiev University and was one of the leader of local Georgian community.

I remember very well how I and my friends went to the central port office, wrote a telegram to Zviad Gamsakhurdia - we were supporting the idea of the referendum, we fully supported his initiative on restoring the independence of Georgia and personally expressed our gratitude to him. One might have not liked Zviad Gamsakhurdia and share his opinions - for example I did not agree with many decisions, activities and ideas of people surrounding him, but whether you agreed or disagreed, you liked or disliked some of his statements and political steps Georgia was the major priority for us. The territorial integrity of our country and freedom was most important for us.

The ideology that Georgians are individualists and can not stand together to get united was destroyed in the recent years during the war and is being destroyed even now, when daily Georgian people create new society working hard.

We lived in the society where work was not appreciated but recently I went to one of the police stations in Ponichala, it was almost 3 AM and we didn't warn anyone we were coming, we saw through the windows that young girls and boys were still working. I still remember the girl's name - Giligashvili, I got interested how much she earned - more than 800 GEL. You should have seen how proudly she talked about her work. One could feel the work ethics. Of course her salary is far from being ideal, though it is enough to keep a family and to stand firm. It is a great happiness and I am really very proud of it.

We still have a lot to do Georgians mentality is different today, but it will take a few years more to pass this way in order to make the process irreversible. This is a beautiful but fragile building, someone may consider our country fragile with its beauty, transparency, modernity, which still needs strengthening and further development. Of course our country should be integrated.

I want to congratulate all of you on the occasion of opening your new office. I want to thank Georgian police on behalf of Georgian population. This is one of the most trustful social institutes in Georgia, where people come to share their secrets, this the institute that people trust, cooperate with and is proud of.

I want to thank your children who are proud of their parents and their job in the police.

I want to thank your parents for raising you up!

Our victory is inevitable!

Georgia's progress continues.

Georgia will stand firm and nobody will ever be able to return us to that misfortune and mentality, to that criminal society that we had before.

Georgia is a strong state and you put your share in it.

I once again thank you very much.

Press Office
of the President of Georgia