Distinguished guests, heads of the diplomatic missions, members of Saint Synod, representatives of various confessions in Georgia, my dear fellow citizens!
Today on the 11th year of 21st century, our country celebrates its major national holiday - the Independence Day for the 20th time.
For already twenty years our country celebrates this day as a sovereign state.
For already twenty years freedom is not some inaccessible aim that we can only dream about, but reality of our life that should be defended for the price of our lives.
Thoughts about our people's historic aspiration towards freedom go beyond our imagination... Our hero ancestors' devotion for achieving the statehood of Georgia in blood, sweat and tears is immeasurable. From historic point of view 20 years is one tiny second, one tiny flash.
But I do not have enough words to describe how great and wonderful is this achievement - these 20 years of Georgia's statehood.
Consider it by yourselves - in the course of history Georgia was independent for 20 years running in 1465 only.
For 546 years our country didn't have a 20-year period of freedom.
It is more than half a millennium the length of our statehood has never been this long as it is today. This historical fact speaks of much - it speaks of our nation's long history and at the same time tells us how young our state is.
It speaks about our people's tireless aspirations towards freedom and at the same time it tells us about the huge tragedy of our battles for survival, existence and independence. It speaks about how great is the achievement of 20 years of sovereignty for us and at the same time tells us how much should we care for what we have today.
In reality we are creating the tradition of Georgian statehood; we are now laying foundation of our sovereign Georgian state... It is very easy for skeptics to complain and jester about those gaps that Georgian state still has. Sure there are such gaps.
Accordingly we are now forming Georgian citizenship traditions, of the attitude towards own state, the culture of bilateral responsibility between the state and the citizen.
We are now getting used to the idea that we live in our own state and not on the territory controlled by the occupants.
We are now realizing that the system that our society lives in not dictated by the will of some foreign force, but that we create it with our own hands for providing better future to our children, families and country.
We are now realizing that as the society that the Rule of Law means the success and strength of our motherland instead of obedience to the empire.
We are now getting closer to idea that the military service means not serving the occupant, the foreign Army, but the huge demonstration of patriotism and devotion to the devotion for the motherland. This is our Army, our force, our blood and our flash and it is the debt of all of us to defend our motherland.
We are now realizing that the society needs to defend the Rule of Law. There is no order and no democracy without the Rule of Law.
I can tell you more - for half of millennium it is first time when we have soldiers and officers that were born as children of free Georgia, that went to military school in independent Georgia that had never seen service of other state and this is an unique achievement as well.
And despite the fact that we are now making the first steps of our statehood I want to state with a pride that our people turned out to be extremely talented, extremely trustful and extremely successful as a nation that builds its own state now.
During last 20 years all tornadoes that can be imagined passed over us. We have come out of chaos, destruction and bloodshed, darkness, hunger and civil wars.
During these 20 years our impudent neighbor that possesses much bigger military force and equipment attacks us with various insidious methods and merciless force with a decision to restore its empire at any price and the foundation for it should be laid in Georgia.
During these 20 years we have felt the bitterness of any mistake conditioned by either our inexperience or naivety. We have learned the lessons of incorrect steps...
We have gone through unreal expectations and painful stages of dramatic destruction... We have experienced to fall on the ground and straighten again and start to come up. We have felt with unbearable evidence hopelessness and disappointment... But still as a nation we managed to demonstrate incredible firmness and incredible will and intention.
The result of this intention is that Georgia is an established state, that today we build state institutions with very high tempo and give an example to many countries in the world.
The result of this will is that we managed to establish order and now we build a legal state that will defend democratic rights and freedoms of its citizens, that will defend its own citizens from criminal and unlawfulness, that is based on the Rule of Law and equality before it.
Organized crime, "thieves in law" and "black mentality" of the street will never return to the streets of Georgia, schools and state institutes in Georgia. No matter how much criminals or recidivists of organized criminal system and people who turned into politicians, but are former criminals fight against us Georgia will never return to that chaos.
The result of this will is that we managed to transfer a totally corrupt, non-established state into one of the cleanest and incorrupt state.
The result of this is that maintained our independence, didn't give up our national dignity. Despite of great pressure we have built a strong Georgian Army that not only defends the security of our country, but fights in the global war against terrorism side-by-side with the civilized world.
The results of our nation's incredible wisdom and carefulness that we firmly stand on our way towards Western, Euro-Atlantic values; that our choice in foreign policy is firm and successive, that our direction is oriented only towards democratic and free world and in the result our young state makes its positions much stronger in Western and European civilization, civilization that we historically belong to.
Dear friends! Twenty years of independence at the same time is short and long period of time.
Today we no longer are in the abyss where we were 20 or even 10 years ago, but still have a very long way to go till we achieve a final result.
Many of our fellow citizens weren't able to come out of hardship, unemployment and social problems. Our country cannot provide each of our citizens welfare.
We still have to work hard to establish firm democratic institutions and create civilized European political tradition.
Our country still strives to obtain its place in the international system. Our major national aim is to unite our country Georgia and to completely de-occupy it.
It takes titanic efforts for our young state to accept all these challenges.
But our history that runs for a millennium, our national potential, the knowledge that we obtained in the last 20 years and experience our firmness shows only one thing - Georgia will inevitably ne united! Georgia will be successful! Georgia despite of our enemy's tricks will finally gain victory! Whatever the provocations are, whatever pressure we feel, whatever threats and blackmail are carried out against Georgia - Georgia will be free!
God bless our country and nation!
Congratulations on the Independence Day!