It is a great honour for me to welcome the presidents of Estonia, Romania and Ukraine, as well as other guests among whom the deputy secretary-general of NATO and the wife of the legendary [late Serbian Prime Minister] Zoran Djindjic, head of the Serbian delegation. There are many distinguished political scientists here. Many of them have already addressed the conference. This is a very important conference for Georgia and the region.

I watched our friend Viktor Yushchenko celebrate the first anniversary of the Ukrainian revolution on television yesterday. For us, for me personally, it was a very moving event. I watched the festivities yesterday.

The history of our revolution is the history of our past. It is also a history of courage and bravery, a history of hope and a history of our future. I would like to recall what Georgia and the region were two years ago. This region was completely forgotten. It was a region of corrupt, failed states. Not only Georgia but all the other states [of the region] were described in this way. Europe was on another planet. There was extreme poverty here.

What is worse is that people didn't believe that they could overcome it. Dov Lynch today gave a very accurate account of the main myths about this region: first that Georgia is a failed state, second that the Caucasian societies are clan societies that can never form states and can't be governed and finally that a proper state has never existed in the region and can't exist.

The rose revolution, and later the Ukrainian revolution, destroyed these myths. They were tectonic shifts in geopolitics and in the history of Europe. These two years have been two years of success and, of course, two years of expectation. It is impossible to meet every expectation. No achievement can meet the euphoric expectation [of the revolution]. Nevertheless, our country and the whole of the region have had two years of constant success.

Speaking about success, we should realize that human audacity and courage are extremely important. I am talking about the courage of not just leaders but also ordinary people. We saw them at the time but we may have forgotten them.

I would like us to see archive footage. I want to explain what it is about. Naturally, the rose revolution is a classic example of non-violence. Everyone was expecting violence. Please, stop the film.

You should know that the Georgian government, my predecessor, our [former] president ordered the use of force. He ordered the police to open fire and use force to stop the people moving towards Tbilisi from all corners of Georgia. Police opened fire on people in east Georgia, in Kakheti, where several people were wounded, and in Kartli, as well as in Samegrelo province. [Samegrelo] had been forgotten by the government. It had been given away to criminals, bandits and paramilitary groups. Local bandits were told to suppress any kind of protest, even at the cost of people's lives. They wanted to terrify both the revolutionary leaders and the public. There were several attempts to carry out attacks against us. It was a miracle that we survived, in particular in one incident.

However, a time came in the history of our country when intimidation and terror failed. The machine that was to use force failed because it was rusty. I want you to see footage filmed in Zugdidi. It may not be nice to watch because the rest looked like a beautiful show. We were on CNN live for four and a half hours. It was so beautiful that some may have thought that it all was staged. In truth, it was human courage and bravery that made it possible. People were prepared to give their lives. I want us to see footage filmed in Zugdidi even though it is not pleasant to watch.

[Archive video of masked gunmen assaulting participants in a rally in Zugdidi in 2003]

You can see people, participants in the rally charging on gunmen. Two people were wounded during that incident, one of them very seriously. Unfortunately, that person later died.

We found out the name of this lady just recently. Her name is Ms Manana Sturua. She ripped the facemask off one of the attackers. I want Kalbatoni [polite form of referring to a woman] Manana to come here and I want everyone to see her. [Applause] I want to give her the Medal of Dignity on behalf of the Georgian state. [Applause]

When we talk about courage [changes thought] - This is the first time the public is seeing Kalbatoni Manana. No-one knew her name. I had not seen her either. Her behaviour was an instance of bravery. She is neither mad nor a fanatic but she confronted the machine that had gone absolutely unpunished. They were confident that no-one could resist their power. One ordinary young person stood up against that machine.

Therefore, I want to say that a region where such great people live has a great future. When we are talking about the future, I want to say that you can see our future by looking at the people sitting here beside me [the presidents of Estonia, Romania and Ukraine]. Just 13-14 years ago, Estonia was a Soviet country just like us. Today it is not only the most successful country of the post-Soviet area by its economic and political model of development but also one of the fastest growing and successful states in the world. This is a country with well-developed, advanced technologies competing with Japan and many other Asian and Scandinavian countries, competing as an equal. This is a country with a stable political system. By the way, it was a great honour when the first prime minister of Estonia after regaining independence, Mart Laar, said that the Georgian government reminded him of Estonia's Pro Patria [party] government that came to power after regaining independence. It is a great honour for me that Arnold Ruutel, the president of Estonia, who was a leader of Estonia's fight for independence, is now here with us. This is not just a coincidence. [Applause]

I would like to talk about Romania. If we want to find the most appropriate and dynamic model of development, we should look at the Romanian state. Georgia has great historical ties with Romania, political and trade links that go back to ancient times. Antimoz Iverieli [Antim Ivireanu] was one of the greatest educators in Romania and a great patriot of Georgia. Georgia has always been very interested in Romania, both in the past and during the years of our fight for independence. You may recall how often everyone in Georgia cited Romania's domestic affairs as an example, how we used to compare our events and our political figures to Romanian ones during those years. I also want to remind you that Romania was the first independent state in the world that recognized Georgia's independence in the autumn of 1991. Georgia will never forget that. [Applause]

I also want to note that this country is a model of development for us. Romania is a member of NATO and we want to join NATO with their help. Romania has a crucial role in this matter. It is the leader of North Atlantic structures in the Black Sea region and a model of reforms in the sphere of national security. Romania is a country that started where we are today. The current Romanian president is a very energetic, innovative and interesting leader. President Basescu's policy of speeding up Romania's development is an important example we should follow. Romania's membership of the European Union is the first step that will make the Black Sea an internal sea of Europe, just like the Mediterranean Sea. This is President Basescu's idea and his very clear policy. I am very grateful that he, very consciously, has taken the leading role in the process of our integration into Europe. I want to thank him very much for that.

And, of course, there is also Ukraine. The Ukrainian revolution was, personally, one of the most important moments of my life. I love the Ukrainian people, I feel indebted to them. Apart from that, I truly think they are our brothers. As part of the Soviet Union we were being forced to love each other but love really was not possible when we were in a forced marriage. However, when we found freedom, a true love was created. That is truly unique and few nations are lucky enough to experience this.

For us, when we were watching the Ukrainian revolution, it was like a footballer watching a football match involving his favourite team who wants to go on the pitch himself but cannot do it. We were all very nervous. We were living for the moment.

At the time I gathered the Georgian cabinet and asked them what was happening in Georgia - this was during Ukraine's revolution - but my ministers all told me that they didn't know what was happening in Georgia but they knew what was happening in Ukraine, because the whole of Georgia lived though every minute and day of it. We consult each other on our experiences of reforms and changes.

Ukraine's victory is a victory for Georgia and the region as a whole. Our common future is not only Euro-Atlantic integration - the main thing is to be models of successful democratic development. The success of democracy is not possible without the supremacy of law.

Our main accomplishments are strengthening institutions, the beginning of the supremacy of law, because there is still a long way to go, true freedom of expression and the fact that people feel that they are responsible for their country. This is our country, this is their country to rule, not the government's or the president's or some party's. This is a country to be governed by the people. People have taken ownership and responsibility for the development of their own country.

I think that this is our main achievement. I am certain that we all have a great future ahead of us, including the peaceful settlement of conflicts. I am very grateful for what Romania and Ukraine are doing for the peaceful settlement of conflicts in the region.

We have a very exact plan for resolving the conflict in the Tskhinvali region, South Ossetia, which is constantly being worked on. I am certain that we can implement this plan with the Georgian government and parliament.

We will gather for the first time in Kiev for a conference on democratic choice. This is a continuation of the Carpathian and Borjomi declarations. Almost one year ago we signed a declaration in the Carpathians with the Ukrainian president, in which we said that a new wave of liberation in Europe had begun.

The Borjomi declaration created the format for the Kiev conference which will be in December. After that we intend to go to Bucharest, because I think that Romania is the main driving force of these processes in our region.

One thing is absolutely clear. There is no universal method for democracy. Although [former Ukrainian] President [Leonid] Kuchma kept saying for a whole year that Ukraine is not Georgia, everything happened in Ukraine just as it did in Georgia.

Second, [former Kyrgyz] President [Askar] Akayev wrote a book about the Rose Revolution, in which he had nothing good to say about us. Lots of these events happened in Kyrgyzstan, too.

One thing is absolutely clear. A model for revolutions does not exist, although our friend the Romanian President [Traian] Basescu had the same colour as they did in Ukraine, as did some other countries.

Since these revolutions, following this wave of democracy, which came to Romania - it began, of course, in the Baltic states - and then our countries, no longer can anyone say in the former Soviet Union or the whole world that the people are not important. We all saw very clearly that no matter how many weapons they have, however determined they are, however much force they use, there is a moment when people will take everything into their own hands. That is the main lesson from Europe's new wave of liberation. It is inescapable. Some respond with more reforms, some respond with more repression, but the final outcome will be the same.

Hopefully, more freedom is something that everyone can attain without great cost or suffering. But there is no alternative to this wave of freedom. A real state can only exist with democracy and freedom. That is Georgia's experience over the past two years - democracy, freedom, including the freedom of speech, the strengthening of institutions, accountability to the public and the public taking responsibility for their own country.

I would again like to welcome our guests to our celebrations today and wish everyone a happy St George's Day, because St George himself represents a victory of good over evil. That is what happened two years ago in Tbilisi and one year ago in Kiev.

Thank you.

This translation is published with permission from BBC Monitoring, Reading UK

Communications Office
of the President of Georgia