Giorgi Margvelashvili - No artificial wire fence, trench or invented border will ever divide our country

პოლიტიკა - 17:07, 13 Aug, 2017

944

The President of Georgia visited the Mukhatgverdi Brothers’ Cemetery to pay homage to the memory of the heroes fallen in the Russian-Georgian war. According to the President, since 2008 Russia has been trying to find justification for the occupation of Georgia – this historical injustice - and to shift the borders of the country. However, no Georgian will ever recognize the occupation of Georgia.
“I believe every person is born free but with duty towards his or her country. Now we stand at the graves of those who have paid with their own blood to perform this duty. Nine years ago, the Russian army crossed the border of the sovereign, independent country and occupied our regions. In reality, this occupation started in the form of hybrid war from the beginning of the 1990s, from the moment when the Georgian nation declared once again about its own independent choice - the road of free development”. Immediately afterwards, in 1992, the UN recognized the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Georgia. And the entire world community recognized then the inviolability and stability of the Georgian borders – the borders, which Russia, as a follow-up to its acts of injustice in 2008, tries redraw. Russia seeks justification for this historical injustice – occupation of Georgia - by some error or mistake, by something.
But Russia is completely alone in these attempts. Neither we - the citizens of Georgia, nor the international community recognizes any borderline, any razor wire fence, any trench, or anyone with a Kalashnikov rifle preventing Georgian citizens from freely moving throughout the Georgian territory. In reality, the Georgian borders remain unaltered to the entire world, to the entire international community. And in this we stand alongside our partners, and the firmness we demonstrate now is the same as the firmness with which we have managed to bring our country down to these days.
Today, the Russian president's plan to visit Georgia, the region of Georgia – Abkhazia, is nothing but a futile attempt to legitimize somehow the historical injustice; to whitewash somehow the decision made in 2008 first to occupy and then to break up the united country. In response to these attempts I’ll say that no Georgian will ever recognize the occupation.
No artificial wire fence, trench or invented border will ever divide our country or impair its firmness. Georgia has many times come through this and has always emerged the winner. Even the most powerful empires failed to shake the statehood of Georgia and no new reality, no new developments or new excuses can ever change this truth.
What is 2008 compared to 1921 when entire Georgia was surrendered to the Soviet Union by Georgian Bolsheviks and the red flag was raised over Tbilisi by those from Shulaver and disciples of Orjonikidze? But even this did not break the Georgian people and we gained our independence in the end.
I want to assure our people, and in particular, our internally displaced citizens that the route to the restoration of Georgia’s territorial integrity lies through our firmness and determination. The idea that Georgia is either divided or broken must be rejected. Georgia is united, Georgia is firm and will continue to be so! This is how we will achieve our territorial integrity and our sovereignty” – Giorgi Margvelashvili said.