Welcome seminar participants!

I am happy to see you here in Tbilisi, in Georgia's capital.

We are also happy that Tbilisi is very quickly becoming an important centre for international forums and conferences.

Tbilisi has traditionally been the centre of the Caucasus and for the region as a whole. It is now regaining this function, which it lost several decades ago.

I want to draw your attention to the progress that Georgia has made over the past few years.

Three or four years ago Georgia was an abortive state. We had an abortive state in a region where many people thought that it would be impossible to instil democracy and achieve democratic development. Not only the leaders of this region thought that way, but also people abroad who support the spread of democracy.

I recall when people would say that the rose revolution and the other "colour" revolutions were imposed upon their respective countries from outside and that they had nothing to do with the will of the local people.

It is impossible to artificially stage a revolution and bring hundreds of thousands of people out into the street, many of whom risk their lives to do so.

I will never forget the incident where masked local bandits who had formed militias opened fire on unarmed people in the centre of Zugdidi. Several unarmed girls approached the gunmen and snatched the assault rifles from their arms as they were firing.

It is impossible to stage an event like that. Those who think that revolutions are staged and organized so simply do not understand how a society's mentality works and how societal progress takes place.

At first, world attitudes towards Georgia were based on stereotypes and cliches. The prevailing opinion was that the rose revolution had been organized by someone else and that the people had had nothing to do with it. Some predicted that the young, inexperienced team that came to power would soon split up and break apart. They also thought that Georgia could never establish itself as a state and that civil war would break out.

The government of Georgia, parliament and the country as a whole have once and for all defied these negative and sceptical prognoses because within a very short period Georgia has not only become established as a state, but also become one of the quickest developing countries in terms of implementing reforms and one of the most interesting countries in the world. This is manifested not only in the fact that the World Bank named Georgia the number one country in the world in terms of reform. We also have moved from being ranked 135th to 35th in terms of the favourability of our business climate, though there are people who believe that Georgia can achieve an even much higher ranking in this area.

We are continuing to implement radical reforms and I am glad that many countries are looking to our reforms as an example.

In many countries of Eastern Europe they continue to repeat the rhetoric and slogans, but it is not sufficient to simply repeat slogans - political will is also necessary.

The Georgian people and their consolidated leadership have the political will to carry out reforms - this will of ours is unwavering and we intend to stay the course into the future.

Our people have shown great wisdom and an ability to realize what is right and what is a democratic system.

A democratic system is when members of a society are constantly engaged in dialogue and reach a consensus.

It is society that decides how high the country's tax rates should be. Of course, everyone would prefer to pay as little as possible in taxes, but we have to take care of schools, build hospitals and fix roads.

Society constantly engaged in debate with itself. There are politicians who think that taxes should be, for example, 30 per cent; others promise to reduce taxes in order to win over voters ahead of elections.

Many young states in similar situations have got stuck in a trap of populism and unrealistic promises.

I am surprised at the fact that populist candidates who do not deserve to be taken seriously sometimes win up to 35 per cent of votes in the countries of Eastern Europe, countries that have been much more successful than we have.

Somehow the Georgian people have come to appreciate where their own personal interests end and where the interests of society begin.

In this respect, the multiethnic Georgian society has shown an amazing maturity and has joined the ranks of those peoples who have the greatest traditions.

There has been much talk about Georgia's separatist conflicts following the break-up of the Soviet Union, though few have noticed that over the past few years Georgia has managed to successfully integrate large numbers of ethnic minorities.

Over the past few years hundreds of thousands of ethnic non-Georgians have learnt the Georgian language.

Ethnic Azeris, Armenians, Ukrainians and Estonians living in Georgia have realized that they are full fledged members of society and that they play an important role in the development of this state.

A group of local ethnic Ossetian leaders who fought against the Georgian state in the beginning of the 1990s have made a wise choice in favour of peace. They did so in spite of the plans of supporters of separatism and foreign diplomats serving there [in South Ossetia] who are facilitated by the separatists and their schemes.

The local people proclaimed that they would not be pawns in some great uncertain games.

The international community is realizing that new approaches are necessary and that maintaining the current status quo is unacceptable. I am very happy about this, because Georgia will not allow that to happen.

For years now we have been struggling to overcome these cliches. The foreign press always used to refer to our country as "impoverished Georgia". This year Georgia will be moved from the category of low-income countries to that of middle-income countries. This does not mean that there is no more poverty in our country, but it does show that we are doing all we can to overcome it. Georgia truly is no longer an impoverished country - despite the fact that some people want it to be.

The second cliche they use to refer to us in the foreign press is "tiny Georgia".

In terms of land area, Georgia is twice the size of the Netherlands and bigger than Slovakia, but I have never read or heard of anyone referring to these countries as "tiny Netherlands" or "tiny Slovakia". I have never even heard "tiny Luxembourg", even though that country is about as big as central Tbilisi.

These are the cliches that are gradually falling by the wayside.

As far as the ethnic conflicts are concerned, I can state with full responsibility that there is no such thing as the Georgian-Ossetian conflict in the Tskhinvali region [South Ossetia].

There were only ethnic elements at play during the war in Abkhazia, though of course ethnic Georgians were not responsible for this - because Soviet military officers were fighting for their dachas [sentence as received].

Five-hundred thousand people were expelled from Abkhazia in the most successful ethnic cleansing of the twentieth century. Let no-one in the international community think that it will be acceptable not to allow the refugees to return home. The Georgian government will never consider such a policy. Even talking about that is insulting not only for the government of Georgia, but for the country as a whole.

We all must understand well that when we speak about our 235-km Black Sea coastline, 100 kilometres of that coastline is practically uninhabited.

Let no-one tell me that anyone will put up with that.

We extend our hand to all those who wish for the peaceful settlement of the conflicts.

We all know well that we have been very flexible while taking various decisions and that we have the necessary political will.

Stereotypes that Georgia is an explosive and unpredictable country are out of place. In many situations we have clearly demonstrated to everyone that we are capable of showing restraint and being flexible.

We are the government of this country, not representatives of some concrete ethnic group.

The parliament speaker has initiated a dialogue between the majority and the opposition, which has truly been a most fruitful process. I want to thank Mrs Nino Burjanadze for successfully guiding this dialogue.

All political forces in the Georgian parliament have supported the extremely flexible plan that we have proposed regarding the status of the Tskhinvali region.

I want to emphasize that just a short while ago it was impossible even to imagine such a thing.

This is another stage in the development and maturation of Georgia's parliamentary system and for Georgian democracy, as our integration with NATO is a process of top importance.

This process implies the development of our country, defining our priorities and making many new discoveries; we want to achieve results.

We are oriented towards building partnerships with those who implement policies that directly and clearly address certain issues.

Yesterday I had the chance to read an article in Le Monde in which the reporter asked the French presidential candidates an important question: "Do you support Ukraine's and Georgia's integration with the EU and their membership of NATO?"

Several of the candidates gave answers of absolutely no substance.

I am glad that Nicolas Sarkozy answered very clearly: "yes".

Upcoming elections present a challenge for all national politicians, but only those countries have a future whose politicians give clear answers to concrete issues and are capable of making moral choices as opposed to pursuing false geopolitical priorities.

I believe that in this respect many things are becoming clear and that we are coming to see things evolve in a positive direction.

Georgia has big plans. We want Georgia to be for this region what Hong Kong and Singapore are for the Far East and what Dubai is for the Middle East.

It is no accident that recently Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso spoke about the success of stability and democracy in Georgia.

It was a very pleasant surprise for me that he named Georgia as exemplary among regional countries in terms of the development it has achieved. This is our important mission because countries that uphold democratic principles must be able to face common challenges together.

Let no-one entertain the illusion that Georgia's fate can be decided without our participation or that it can be the subject of bargaining or exchanges.

There is often talk about the global importance of the conflicts.

Even the separatists have begun talking about this - three days ago one of the separatist leaders was on Georgian television edifying us that apparently that the world has been carved up in such a way that Georgia's territories no longer belong to it.

I am convinced that he did not think of this himself and that he was ordered to say so from on high.

I want everyone to understand that there will be no new Yalta or new Munich agreements concerning Georgia's territories despite the fact that there is a certain group of politicians who have an instinct to make these kinds of compromises and deals.

This is the Georgian state and we will never stand for this on Georgian territory. As far as this issue is concerned we are pinning great hopes on the international community and on each one of you.

Democratic development is the main source of stability and is key to efforts to resolve the conflicts.

When resolving the conflicts we need 21st century European decisions to be taken.

During the war in Abkhazia we suffered from the 20th century decisions that were taken, decisions which cost many people their lives or property.

We wish to overcome those 20th century decisions with 21st century decisions, decisions based on respect for the principles of justice, territorial integrity and the protection of all ethnic groups' legal interests and rights.

In this respect, relations with you are, first and foremost, a political process. NATO is above all a political organization. Integration with NATO helps us to peacefully resolve our conflicts, develop democracy and implement reforms at a faster and more intense pace.

It is important for us that the country proceeds with its ongoing reforms and that these reforms yield concrete results.

Look at Tbilisi and other Georgian cities, which are no longer in ruins and which are developing and growing more beautiful with each passing day.

In 2003 50m dollars of direct investment were placed in Georgia. Last year that figure stood at 1.2bn and this year we expect it to exceed 2bn euros, which is a very high indicator for country as small as Georgia.

This year we expect double-digit economic growth. According to preliminary data, we have achieved 12-13 per cent economic growth for the first three months of this year. If everything goes well, we may achieve an even higher indicator still for the whole year.

Last year, in conditions of a total economic embargo, Georgia had nearly 10 per cent economic growth.

This is clear confirmation of the fact that it is possible to reach a national consensus on certain key issues when there are the conditions in place for democracy.

What is the essence of democracy for our country?

We are a small country, but still we have managed to pull ourselves up out of the mud under our own power. This would have been impossible without our common conviction and unified efforts.

This is possible only in conditions of democracy.

Even the most educated and right-thinking authoritative leaders could not turn Georgia into such a successful country without intense political debate.

This debate facilitates reaching political consensus. This is to the opposition's credit: it is thanks to these intense debates that we have managed to reach a consensus. In order to overcome a political ailment, it is necessary to raise the political temperature, not lower it.

When a person's temperature is reduced, they become week. Therefore if the political temperature is low, there is little chance for progress.

Loud debates do not constitute a problem.

Debates and loud arguments are a necessary part of true politics. Everyone acknowledges that Georgia's indisputable success is clear confirmation of this. I want to emphasize that nongovernmental organizations have made a particularly important contribution to the successes that Georgia has achieved.

This is the part of society which has which enjoys great moral authority in society's efforts to move forward.

This concerns all areas, including NATO integration and carrying out new reforms.

In the new Georgia one hundred new hospitals are being built and I am happy to say that last year we laid more roads and built more schools and hospitals than were built in this country in the past 25 years.

The people in this hall are important allies for any government of a democratic Georgia and are among the most important builders of our country.

As for our integration with NATO, Georgia will complete the Intensified Dialogue phase of talks on membership of the alliance this autumn. The last NATO mission left Georgia extremely satisfied. They concluded that Georgia had fulfilled the technical side with flying colours.

Now it is time to make a political decision.

I hope that this decision will be made by politicians who are capable of giving positive answers even to the most acute political questions. This year Georgia will once and for all be ready to move to the next stage of talks on NATO integration.

We expect a positive decision to be taken on Georgia becoming an official candidate for NATO membership and that Georgia will receive a Membership Action Plan within the next year. Parliamentarians will play a decisive role in this. This issue must not be decided based on how much we are paying for gas and we all must fight so that it is not.

We are not going back on the decisions we have made. I am convinced that there are values higher than purely pragmatic concerns. I can see that support for us is growing and I expect that you will intensify these processes.

Georgia will of course be a member of the North Atlantic alliance because that is our natural place. This is not conditioned by pragmatic considerations.

Being members of the world's leading and influential clubs - including NATO, which is the most influential club - is a centuries-old desire of our people, one that has very deep roots. The fact that the people strongly support NATO accession is confirmation of this. I believe that we are at a stage where our generation can, with your support and through sharing your experience, realize Georgians' centuries-old dream of becoming members of these leading clubs.

Not only does Georgia need NATO, NATO needs Georgia as well. Not only does Georgia need Europe, all pragmatic politicians know that Europe needs Georgia, which is its historical component part.

We are quickly moving towards rediscovering each other and fully repairing those historical-cultural ties that have been broken.

Thank you very much!

Press Office
of the President of Georgia