The President of Georgia addressed the students and professors of Princeton University. Mikheil Saakashvili gave a public lecture “Georgian Democratic Transformation: A Test Case for the Post-Soviet World.” The Head of State spoke about the reforms and changes, which successfully took place in Georgia. He focused attention on fighting crime and corruption and stated that the country has reached great progress in this regard, which many international organizations are noting. According to him, much has changed in Georgia since the Rose Revolution – the government began strengthening government institutions, which became the basis for a mental revolution. According to Mikheil Saakashvili, Georgia has become an exemplary country in the region and delegations from almost all countries are arriving in order to share the successful reforms, including from Russia. According to Mikheil Saakashvili, reforms should be implemented in the entire region because development of neighboring countries bears an important meaning for Georgia.
And at the end, the President gave advice to future policy-makers.
“Do not accept anything at its face value. Don’t take anything at face value, defy things all the time, defy yourself, revaluate yourself all the time and don’t go for established dogmas, because they usually don’t mean anything. Just go for it and everything will be fine”.
After the lecture students of the Princeton University hosted a reception and sang a Georgian song in honor of the President of Georgia.