The President of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili

My dear compatriots, what a pleasure and an honor to see you gathered in such numbers here.

Allow me to start with a few welcoming sentences in French.

Monsieur le Président,

Chers amis  Français, chers compatriotes,

Cette foule immense vient ici exprimer son amour pour la liberté, l’Europe et la France.

Sa reconnaissance aussi.

Car nous n’oublierons jamais qui est venu nous épauler, il y a trois ans, dans l’un de ces moments tragiques qui définissent le destin d’une nation.

La Georgie demeure partiellement occupee, des centaines de milliers de nos concitoyens ne peuvent retrouver leurs villes, leurs villages et leurs maisons, juste parce que des hommes ont décidé dans une ville lointaine que leur terre n’était plus leur terre. Les menaces, enfin, n’ont pas cessé.

Mais c’est aujourd’hui une democratie en mouvement, un pays en marche vers son destin europeen qui vous reçoit.

Sur cette place, un peuple courageux, eternellement optimiste, dit sa fierte de vous accueillir en ami, et, à travers vous, la France et l’Europe.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Compatriots,

We have walked such a long way together!

I remember the year of 2003, when I addressed the Georgian people from this very square for the first time.

It was just before the Rose Revolution.

Georgia was a failed State and we promised to turn it into a European Democracy.

It seemed like a utopian dream back then… but look what we have achieved in 8 years!

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I stood here again on September 1, 2008, when 1 million citizens of Georgia formed a live chain against the conquerors.

This live chain was both the expression of protest and the call of hope.

It was an expectation of hope and huge trust towards our democratic and European future.  

I remember telling you that we would not stay alone despite the tanks, bombers, the armies of foreign countries on our soil; We would finally get back to our European family of free and democratic nations.

Back then, this voice of hope sounded more like a predestined aspiration.

But make a pause, look around and think for a while,  see where we were then and where we are now.

……………

Today, we are not alone anymore.

And this is a realizable promise.

We are not alone.

And this day is a day of pride for all of us.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Exactly today, we can loudly state with the utmost confidence that the politics of frightening and pressuring our people, embargoes, bombing and conquering have failed and hundreds of thousands of our citizens are still forced out of their homes. However, the plan of isolation and submission of Georgia has failed.

Those who desired to end the democratic development of our country have failed.

The attempt of those who desired to stop our striving towards the European Union and Trans-Atlantic Alliance has failed.

My dear fellow citizens, their defeat was first of all caused by your firmness and relentless love of freedom, your dignity and obstinacy.

The support and backing of our friends has caused their defeat.

Today, our free nation is welcoming the President of the French Republic, the man who stood by our side in the most difficult period of our recent history – at the time when we needed the backing of our friends the most.

…………

Our country has witnessed many facts of conquering and occupation.

The bravery and heroic sacrifice of our ancestors was not enough to resist to the Red Army and the First Republic Georgia fell to the brutal force of the Communist tyranny later - in the early XX century.

At the time, Georgia was alone; it did not have allies, which would help us in the fight for rescuing our independence; which would speak up to protect our freedom.

A strong enemy often broke the gate of this city, but we seldom had a chance to open it for a strong friend.

We had such friends in 2008! We had allies, which stood by our side and the first one among them was our guest today – Nocalas Sarkozy

The existence of such friends was a result of our increasingly successful integration in the European and Euro-Atlantic space.

Exactly the integration in the European and Euro-Atlantic space was the main aspiration of the Rose Revolution ladies and gentlemen.

The radical reforms that we launched since 2003 in every part of the society had one purpose – the European transformation of Georgia, turning our ancient European nation into a modern, democratic and European state.

Proud citizens of Georgia, you are the moving force of this European transformation. The transformation, which many outside observers call the “Mental Revolution”

Because of your relentless efforts, sacrifice and actions Georgia is so firmly engaged on the path of the European and Trans-Atlantic integration , that no foreign leader - as strong as he seem, no puppet of a foreign power, no army of a foreign  country – as frightening as it seem, will be able to throw us off this parth.

Our road, our final destination is Europe.

Our past has brought us here and our future demands it from us.

The Georgian people have always considered themselves as Europeans and they had always made their European decision.

Christianity as well as the alliance with Byzantine Empire and Social Democracy against bolshevism were European choices.

As the President of the First Republic said: “You know, that the roads of Georgia and Russia have been divided. Our road is taking us to Europe and the Russian road to Asia. Letting Bolshevism into our space and letting it rule here means burying the fee and democratic Georgia forever, being torn apart from Europe forever and I declare today, with more confidence and energy: We choose Europe and the European democracy.”

In the end, the Rose Revolution and everything that following it is our European choice including our education system .

I am not talking about something that can be subject of simple political discussion here. I am talking about identity and values; I am talking about something that is more important than the government and its opposition; more important than me or any other leader. I am talking about something that does not belong to anyone and no one can repress- this is the future of the Georgian nation.

Our ethnic lineage, our political and religious differences, our age and wealth become transparent before it.

We are all Georgian and therefore European.

And as proud Georgians, as real Europeans, and the nation which relentlessly loves freedom, let’s greet the President of  France – Nicolas Sarkozy.

The President of  France Nicolas Sarkozy

Mr. President,

Mr. Ministers,

Dear Georgian friends,

Dear Compatriots,

When I arrived in Georgia, on the night of August 12, 2008, thousands, perhaps tens of thousands of you stood in front of Parliament in order to boldly protest the offenses against your country and express your determined will to rescue its freedom.

Three years have passed and I am glad that I can address a free nation and free people at Liberty Square!

Three years have passed and despite the fact that the fire has ceased, the scars caused by the war, death, and suffering have not healed.

Tens of thousands of your compatriots were forced to leave their homes and join hundreds of thousands of others that have been internally displaced as a result of the previous conflicts.

Thousands of families have been divided and can no longer meet, talk or embrace because an invisible wall has been erected within the nation.

One part of your territory has been taken away from you. It is as acute as a severed limb, the existence of which one always feels.

Important military forces not only stay at your door but are also strengthening their position against all manner of strategic logic, while ignoring their oath.

Dear Georgian friends,

These past three years have not negatively affected the involvement of France and its efforts to stand by your side.

France was the first to put its Gendarmes along the administrative border, in order to avoid further escalation of the conflict. Even today more than 200 European monitors are in place, fulfilling the monitoring mission and keeping peace.

France does not agree with the current result.

I am ceremonially verifying the support of my country and Europe regarding the sovereignty, freedom, and territorial integrity of your country.

I still verify my obligation to closely monitor the fulfillment of the signed agreement, because it obligates the countries that have signed it, in keeping their word, honor and integrity.

Here, at Liberty Square, I once again validate the right of the Georgian people to determine their own way, to choose allies freely and to build their own future.

Dear Georgian friends,

We were able to quickly stop the war, but we can not build real freedom being patient and goal-oriented alone.

France acknowledges more than others, the pain of your people caused by forced division and dictating separatism among its people.

France feels more than others the pain of people persecuted, displaced from their homes and taken away from their soil.

France has understood all of this so deeply, because history has put us through a similar kind of suffering and injustice.

But as I told my Armenian friends this morning, no other country besides France knows how tough is the scar which does not heal and the deep misunderstanding which cannot be overcome.   

This is the choice, which France and Germany made in 1945 after three devastating conflicts. When the memory of war was so deeply imprinted in the history our countries, two long-sighted persons – Charles De Gaulle and Konrad Adenauer directed their people towards the road of reconciliation, on the ruins of the most horrifying conflicts on the conscience of mankind. Today the friendship of France and Germany is honest and firm and this friendship is the moving force of the European Union.

I call Georgia and Russia for setting a course towards the same road, because a conflict is not a destiny neither in the Caucasus nor anywhere else.

Each one of them has to make an individual contribution. Many chances have been missed.

Georgia has shown in its own way, when President Saakashvili ceremonially took an oath to never again use force in the process of restoring sovereignty in the two regions taken away from Georgia.

The signers of the agreements made on August 12 and September 8, 2008 shall feel and meet this obligation. This should probably be a natural motion, because the international law demands this and because a new conflict would make the region and world peace face an unthinkable risk. 

The European monitors should be able to enter Abkhazia and South Ossetia, in order to make sure that the rights of the people there are protected.

The right of displaced people to go back to their homes has to be established once again. As a beginning, the divided families have to be able to see each other and cross the dividing line from both sides freely.

Each side has to be involved in the Genève discussions actively and honestly, because only through dialogue and negotiations it is possible to overcome a lack of trust and begin to solve the main problems of discussion.

Trust building measures have to be taken in order to strengthen stability.

However, the most important thing, three years after the war, is that it is time for using wisdom for determining approaches for change.

Mr. President

Dear Georgian friends,

France considers Russia as its friend and a strategic partner, because our destinies are interconnected. We provide sustainable prosperity for our peoples together and stability of our continent and will continue to maintain influence throughout the world, so that others do not force their own rules on us.

Partners and friends; this is who Russians and Georgians should be to each other or become again.

Georgians and Russians have endured the same trauma caused by 70 years of Communism. Both countries were able to rise up again and become a master of their own destiny.

Many hundreds of thousands of your compatriots live in Russia and Moscow which is the second most populated area by Georgians after Tbilisi. Your businessmen are investing capital in Russia and many of their Russian colleagues come here to profit from the dynamic development of your economy. Thousands of Russian tourists visit Georgia every year, in order to enjoy its diverse climate, legendary hospitality, cuisine, and an unparalleled cultural and natural heritage.

But the adverse rhetoric has to stop and more advantageous dialog should be considered in order to restore trust.

The frightening threats and the attempts of destabilization have to stop in order to rebuild trust.

In order to regain trust, each should consider that the Soviet Union has been left in the past and that it cannot be replaced by the politics of manipulating spheres. Everyone should acknowledge that like other countries, Georgia can freely choose its way as well as its allies.

Georgia should be able to freely express aspiration to become a member of NATO if its people so desire and the members of this alliance, whom are not against anyone, will support this process by the same rules used during the Bucharest Summit.

It is the free will of Georgia to express aspiration towards the EU and become its member one day. This aspiration is a chance for Georgia, because it is the catalyst of all the reforms initiated 8 years ago the purpose of which were to strengthen the young democracy and fundamentally change the economy.

Mr. President

Dear Georgian friends,

On the second day after the revolution, your society was divided and your economy weakened. The entire country was left in uncertainty.

There are still many challenges, including consolidation of the democracy, successfully administrating future elections and continuing economic growth.

But such a long road has been travelled since then!

The distribution of natural gas, water and electricity has been restored. Your roads have been fixed and your infrastructure developed. Security was restored in the entire country and on such a high level that Tbilisi has the lowest criminal ranking in all of Europe. Your police buildings are transparent just like your police, which were among the most corrupt in the world.

Since 2004, the wealth of your country has increased ten times. The income of each person was 765 USD in 2002 and has now become 4,500 USD - much higher than in many countries of the former Soviet Union. Georgia is an attractive country today, because of the judicial and tax revolutions started by you. In terms of doing business you have moved up from 112^th place held to12th place in the world. The influx of foreign investments is not a coincidence.

The strategy of internal reforms and openness should convince the populations of Abkhazia and South Ossetia of the fact that their future means standing by the side of their Georgian compatriots, in an open country and not in isolated and enslaved pseudo states.

The continuing of this strategy is your best chance in convincing the EU, that Georgia is a European country. It is a European country with its culture, with the choice of development and especially with its values.

The approximation into the EU is first of all dependent on all your reforms as well as consolidating your democracy.

Regarding myself, when I am in Tbilisi, I feel like I am in Europe.

Dear Georgian Friends,

France and Georgia have lot more in common than the horrifying memories of the days and nights of august 2008.

90 years ago, after three years of independence, when your country adopted a democratic constitution recognizing the suffrage for women, the young Government of Georgia fled the country because of the invasion of the Bolshevik army and found asylum in France.

It was still able to keep the Georgian uniqueness and the desire of independence.

Many Georgians who dreamed of free Georgia like Noe Ramishvili and Noe Jordania are buried on French soil, in Le Ville.

I absolutely support the project of opening the center of Georgian culture in this village, which has become the symbol of fighting for independence and a place for memorial.

The kinship relations have been established between Georgia and France on battlefields.

Dimitri Amilakhvari, who was a veteran of the Keren battle and the military actions in Syria, heroically fell for France in Libya in 1942. He still remains as a legendary figure of the Foreign Legion of France and one of the warriors, who Charles De Gaulle called the pride of France. He is also the pride of Georgia.

Even today, our soldiers fight side by side in Afghanistan, in order to defeat terrorism and obscurantism, train the Afghan army and help the Afghan people in the process of keeping their independence. I want to welcome the devotion of your soldiers and respectfully remember those who fell while fulfilling their duty. I want to express a special sympathy towards the wounded and their families. 

Dear Georgian friends,

Eight years ago, with the push of President Saakashvili, Georgia took on a bold challenge, which was perceived as an illusion by some, that Georgia would build a real democracy and a market economy in the middle of a region frozen by decades of communism.

France is proud to have believed and supported this challenge. It desires to continue to support Georgia as a friend, in order for Georgia to keep all promises.

There are more and more French facilities interested and preparing to settle in your country. They are already represented in the food, banking and tourism industries of Georgia. I hope we will see them in civil and aviation transport infrastructure spheres as well. The French will help facilitate and assist you in the developing the ski basis in Gudauri and Mestia, which are among the most beautiful places in the world. From now on, in order to prove that we believe in the huge potential of Georgia, the Development Agency of France will allocate finances to support the development of your country.

You have started a fundamental reform of the educational system. France desires to stand by you in the process of opening the French school of the Caucasus in a beautiful building, in order to form the elite of tomorrow and to build new bridges among France, Europe and Georgia. Your President and his wife Sandra, who speak our language so fluently are clear examples of the fact that knowing the French language is the best passport in order to attain high posts.

I want your young generation to receive an education like those in Francophone Universities all over the world. I also want young Georgians to take advantage of the Erasmus programs, which unites the entire youth of Europe. Georgia is a monitoring member of Francophone organization. It is advantageous for your youth as well as Francophones.

Mr. President, Dear Misha,

Dear Georgian friends,

Georgia and France met each other during a period of misfortune and trouble in the last century as well as in August, 2008.

A deep friendship was born between our people, during these meetings brought to us by history.

I have come to Liberty Square this evening to participate in the celebration of this friendship.

I came in order to convince you that France, like yesterday, will also be a devoted friend tomorrow and that Georgia can always count on its support.

Long live Georgia!

Long live France!

Long live the friendship of Georgia and France!