Hello to you and to your viewers. Tomorrow I'm leaving for a day-and-a-half official visit to Kazakhstan, and many people are asking: When there are so many problems in the country, when there are problems with power shortages and poverty in general, why does the president go abroad so often, meeting so many foreign leaders? I would like to tell you that if we look at this issue carefully, global politics is one of the main instruments by which Georgia can protect itself and improve its position. This is our historical experience. Most of our people know our history. At the times of [medieval Georgian kings] Davit Aghmashenebeli and Giorgi Brtsqinvale, and other periods of Georgia's success, our country achieved success because of an advantageous international situation around it. Davit Aghmashenebeli struggled for several decades before he could regain Tbilisi, and he needed 15 years before he could stop paying homage to enemies. Why was that? Because he was surrounded by empires. Sometimes these empires got weaker, and smart rulers of Georgia used their chance to improve the situation of the country, although there were some relatively weaker rulers too.
However, Georgia has always been a passive player in its history, always waiting for a chance. But now, for the first time, because of many factors - the existence of television, international contacts - we are no longer simply waiting for a break of the imperial sphere of influence around us. We have become creators of the processes, which form an absolutely different international environment around Georgia.
Look at our relations with Ukraine. We have reached very important agreements with Victor Yushchenko, in many spheres, including energy and transport, military and technical cooperation. Look at the events developing in other post-Soviet countries.
You know that in Moldova I met with both President Voronin and their opposition leader [Iurie Rosca], and we managed to get them to the negotiation table for the first time. It was crucial for the post-election situation because Voronin needs opposition votes to become the president. Then the opposition leader Mr Rosca visited Tbilisi, we talked, and in effect we managed to facilitate the creation of a Europe-oriented authorities in that country, although I wouldn't want to exaggerate our contribution to that. In short, Georgia is now creating a new international reality around it. We are doing this ourselves.
Today I was a guest at a one of the most popular French TV programmes. Many French political scientists were there, and I was taking part from here. [Former Soviet leader Mikhail] Gorbachev and former French President Giscard d'Estaing were also among the participants. Giscard d'Estaing said that Georgia should not be a member of the European Union. He is former French President, and currently the chairman of the EU Convention on the Future of Europe. But the entire audience did not agree with him.
I quoted famous French writer Paul Valerie's criteria of being a European. First, being a relative of the Greek civilization. Second, the Christian religion, although I support Turkey's membership too. And the third criterion is a democratic system.
What is more interesting, this French programme conducted a poll. The French have been known for their isolationism in Europe. They usually do not welcome new members, and French politicians are always more careful in this respect than their Dutch counterparts or eastern Europeans from Czech Republic, Poland or the Baltic States.
So, 50 per cent of the surveyed said that Ukraine should necessarily join the European Union. Three years ago, only five per cent of the French thought that Georgia should be a part of Europe in some form.
Today, 45 per cent of them said that Georgia should be a part of the European Union. Turkey, our neighbour, was next. Turkey is a much bigger country and is actually on its way to joining the EU, but it got less percentage. And Russia got much smaller support than Georgia. If I'm not mistaken, it was 33 or 34 per cent, while 52 per cent of the French said that Russia could never be a part of Europe. This is their opinion, not mine. Traditionally, this country [France] has always been sympathetic towards Russia.
Today, history is on our side. Reality is changing at blinding speed. Sergey Bagapsh has offered negotiations himself. He himself took the initiative and said that he was ready to talk to the Georgian authorities. Everyone can see which way the wind is blowing. So, I think that, taking into account this reality around Georgia, international contacts of our government are very important. Georgia has become a very important country. I was very proud when I was addressing a million of people in Kiev on the New Year's Eve. You could see their reaction, and you can see reaction in France, judging by today's poll.
We do not yet fully understand what President Bush's forthcoming visit to Georgia means. Just a short time ago, we could not even dream of this kind of reality around Georgia. President Bush, who has never visited any post-Soviet country except Russia, said that he was going to visit Georgia in order to support historic reforms there and help Georgians to settle conflicts with separatists peacefully. This means that these conflicts, and everything else that is happening here, is no longer a matter solely between us and one of our neighbours. This has become a matter of personal interest of the leader of the most influential state in the world. This gesture of support is so important that we should contemplate on it and use it well. We should be well prepared to host him. He is going to meet many people here.
So, what we had before? As I've told you, according to a French opinion poll, about half of them say that Georgia should join the EU. Just a short time ago, the concept was very different and simple: Russia is a European country and its neighbours are more or less wild, so let the North establish order there. But today even this country, which is the most sympathetic towards Russia, says that Georgia is more European than Russia. I'm certainly not against Russia, either culturally or personally, but this is a simple reality. We have crossed a certain line and we should do our best to ensure that we never go back. This is what I wanted to say about global politics. Tomorrow, together with Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev, we will discuss energy projects, transit routes, and other issues. It is very important that Kazakh banks are going to invest in Tbilisi's infrastructure. These are fundamental breakthroughs.
This translation is published with permission from BBC Monitoring, Reading, UK
Communications Office
of the President of Georgia