Parliament Hall
Tbilisi, Georgia
VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: Thank you. Mr. Speaker, ladies
and gentlemen of the Parliament, distinguished leaders, friends all, I
thank you for this great honor. I do consider it an honor to be given
the floor in your Parliament.
I speak not only on behalf of myself as Vice President, but I speak for
my President, President Obama, as well as my country. I come here on
behalf of the United States with a simple, straightforward message: We,
the United States, stand by you on your journey to a secure, free and
democratic, and once again united, Georgia.
It's a journey nearly a century in the making. In May of 1918, the
National Council of Georgia -- this very body, under a different name --
declared independence, much as my own nation did 150 years before that.
Three years later, you adopted a constitution, a brave declaration of
your freedom and independence, even under the imminent threat of an
attack.
One month later, the Bolshevik occupation was complete, and this
parliament met for the last time until the end of the century. It was a
journey halted before it began. But the journey renewed in 1989, as the
cries for freedom rang throughout Georgia once again, only to be stopped
one more time by the last grasp of a dying empire. Two years later, you
declared your independence again, and a seed planted generations before
became a rose about to bloom.
Georgia's first post-Soviet experiment with democracy was tainted with
civil strife, economic hardship, growing corruption, and a backward
drift toward undemocratic rule. Then, just six years ago, the Rose
Revolution sounded a clarion call for freedom and democracy that was
literally heard around the world.
I still draw inspiration from that moment and the journey you have
taken. I remember watching in awe as you stood straight and tall. So
did millions of people around the world whose quest for freedom is not
yet complete.
One year ago, as the Speaker referenced, I came to Georgia under very
different circumstances. I was advised by many not to come. I was told
that it wasn't a particularly opportune moment. But I wanted to make
clear why your independence was so important to my country and the
world. Instead of standing in your parliament, I sat on the rooftop of
a restaurant with President Saakashvili, as the sound of artillery fire
and fighter aircraft punctuated the night.
On that rooftop, I pledged America's support to Georgia in my status as
the United States Senate. And I here today pledge it again, as Vice
President of the United States of America. I pledge it not
only on my behalf, but on behalf of President Barack Obama.
This visit, Tbilisi -- to Tbilisi, comes deliberately right after
President Obama's trip to Moscow, for as he was planning his trip --
as he was planning his trip, he instructed me to plan my
trip to Tbilisi.
Ladies and gentlemen -- and I know that some are concerned, and I
understand it, that our efforts to reset relations with Russia will come
at the expense of Georgia. Let me be clear: They have not, they will
not, and they cannot.
As I said in Munich in the first days after our administration was sworn
in, and as President Obama, I might add, reasserted two weeks ago in
Moscow, we stand by the principle that sovereign democracies have the
right to make their own decisions, and choose their own partnerships and
their own alliances. We stand against the 19th century notion of
spheres of influence. It has no place in the 21st century.
We will not -- we will not recognize Abkhazia and South Ossetia as
independent states. And we urge -- we urge the world not
to recognize them as independent states. And we call upon Russia to
honor its international commitments clearly specified in the [ *sic] 12
ceasefire agreement, including withdrawal of all forces to their
pre-conflict positions, and ultimately out of Georgia.
And we support the expansion of international monitors throughout
Georgia to promote peace and stability. During my visit last year, I
was moved by the plight of families displaced from their homes in South
Ossetia. And I was struck by the effort to undermine your economy by
targeting critical infrastructure deep within Georgia.
I promised that my country would provide meaningful assistance to
Georgia to help you recover. And today, I am pleased to say that the
United States has delivered on that commitment I made of $1 billion.
Ladies and gentlemen, since August, we have provided supplies and
shelter to those displaced, budgetary support to help your government
meet its fiscal responsibilities, reconstruction aid to help those who
were able to return home, and funding for roads and energy security; and
new resources to strengthen Georgia's civil society, legal system and
independent media.
All in all, Georgia today is one of the highest per-capita recipients of
U.S. aid in the entire world. Even where I come from, a billion dollars
for 5 million people is a lot of money. We are also working closely
with Georgia to modernize your military, with a focus on training,
planning and organization.
We understand that Georgia aspires to join NATO. We fully support that
aspiration. And, members of Parliament, we will work to
help you meet the standards of NATO membership.
I am pleased that just last month, the U.S. and Georgia launched a
Charter on Strategic Partnership. We set an ambitious agenda across
four key areas: defense and security; economic trade, and energy
cooperation; advancing democracy and the rule of law; and strengthening
cultural ties between our countries.
Let me be clear about what our strategic partnership with Georgia is,
and what it is not. The United States has no desire to create our own
sphere of influence in this region or anywhere else in the world. Our
goal is to help build a multi-partner world in which nations make common
cause of common concerns.
These partnerships are not being built against anyone. They are being
built to the benefit of everyone who seeks a more democratic, prosperous
and secure world.
With Georgia, our partnership involves meeting security challenges -- we
are grateful, truly grateful that Georgian soldiers will stand next to
our brave Marines in Afghanistan. It includes a commitment to energy
security, and we welcome Georgia's role as a bridge for natural
resources flowing from east to west, as it did a thousand years ago.
It carries with it -- this cooperation agreement -- a determination to
build stronger bonds not only between our governments, but among our
people through cultural exchanges, entrepreneurial collaboration, and
civil society cooperation.
Our partnership rests on a foundation of shared democratic ideals.
That's what you are about. And we will continue to support your work to
fulfill the democratic promise of six years ago.
As President Saakashvili told Parliament earlier this week -- and we
expect that he will keep that commitment -- that there is much more to
be done. Your Rose Revolution will only be complete when government is
transparent, accountable, and fully participatory; when issues are
debated inside this chamber, not only out on the streets; when you fully
address key constitutional issues regarding the balance of power between
the parliament and the executive branch, and leveling your electoral
playing field; when the media is totally independent and professional,
providing people the information to make informed decisions, and to hold
their government accountable for the decisions it makes; when the courts
are free from outside influence and the rule of law is firmly
established, and when the transfer of power occurs through peaceful,
constitutional, and democratic processes, not on the street.
Ladies and gentlemen -- I don't mean to sound instructive -- never tell
another person what their political interest is. But I can tell you
from experience there is no specific checklist for democracy. But there
are significant, concrete steps that need to be taken to deepen any
democracy.
Success requires the involvement of everyone in this room, of those who
were elected outside this room. It requires every Georgian citizen,
regardless of their political affiliation or their ethnicity, to take
part in their government.
And I especially today call upon the young people of Georgia, the next
generation of Georgian leaders, to continue to contribute their ideas,
their voices, and their energy to help create a peaceful, stable,
democratic and economically prosperous Georgia. Only then -- only then
will we see a Georgia that is the home to all its rightful citizens.
As difficult as this may be, I encourage you to keep the doors open to
the Abkhaz and South Ossetians, so that they know they have other
options besides the status quo. Instability or renewed conflict
guarantees, in our view, a continuation of the unacceptable status quo,
and it would discourage the foreign investment that is so essential to
the economic growth and the economic progress you so badly need.
It is a sad certainty, but it is true there is no military option to
reintegration, only peaceful and prosperous Georgia -- a peaceful and
prosperous Georgia that has the prospect of restoring your territorial
integrity by showing those in Abkhazia and South Ossetia, a Georgia
where they can be free and their communities can flourish; where they
can enjoy autonomy within a federal system of government, where life can
be so much better for them than it is now. Show them the real benefits
of your nation's motto: Strength is in unity.
Ladies and gentlemen, ladies and gentlemen of the Parliament -- divided,
Georgia will not complete its journey. United, Georgia can achieve the
dreams of your forebears and, maybe more importantly, the hopes of your
children.
I'll end with a phrase -- a verse from maybe Georgia's most famous poet.
When I was in the president's office I asked, "Who is that portrait of?"
And he then gave me the history lesson on, again, maybe your most famous
poet, a poet who inspired the journey of freedom in 1921 -- and
continues to provide his voice today. And I want to make sure I get
this right. He wrote: "My heart burns with a holy flame that all my
strength I may employ, to serve my people faithfully in sorrow and in
joy. O let my people's suffering be branded on my soul I ask, and let
my heart, through good and ill, be equal to its task."
Ladies and gentlemen, my President and I, my country, we pray that your
hearts are equal to the task. I know they are, and so do you. And
thank you so very much for not only inspiring your own people in
completing this journey, but for the inspiration you've provided for
tens of millions of people seeking what you now have within your grasp.
And it is yours to guarantee.
We will stand with you. Thank you very much.
Communications Office
of the President of Georgia