2023-11-10
"First of all, thank you very much. I want to join my dear colleague, my dear friend - Prime Minister Pashinyan - in thanking President Macron and the organizer of this Forum, for inviting us and for organizing this Forum, because nowadays, as the Prime Minister mentioned, the world is full of conflicts, unresolved crises. And who suffers from these crises? People, our population, our citizens suffer from this crisis. We live in an era of uncertainty, unpredictability and we see, for example, a war in Ukraine, which is ongoing and we don't see an end, we don't see a solution yet.
We see a crisis in the Middle East, which is very dangerous. We see frozen conflicts in Georgia, for example. We see the occupation of our territories and therefore there is no solution. We see lots of conflicts in Africa or any part of the world. So, therefore, the solution and answer to all these crises and conflicts must be peace. We - governments - must do everything to achieve peace.
I want to take this opportunity and talk with you about a success story of Georgia and what we achieved in the last decade. So, when we came to power in 2012, the status-quo of Georgia was that 20% of our territory was occupied and is still occupied by Russia. It is one of the biggest challenges for our reality. Unfortunately, the war between Russia and Georgia happened in 2008. In the 90's we had a civil war. We had wars in Abkhazia and South Ossetia - in the occupied territories, which were supported by the Russian Federation at that time, in the early 90's.
So, the country of Georgia has seen so many problems, so many challenges. After the war in 2008, we saw another big war, which was started in Ukraine. I think it is a great challenge for all of us, because whether we like it or not, whether we try to avoid further escalations or complicated scenarios or not, it affects all of us. Wars affect all of us!
Of course, the situation in our region - in the neighboring countries of Armenia and Azerbaijan - is a matter of concern for all of us. Georgia is a - I have said it many times and I want to repeat - very objective, unbiased - I would say so - mediator, facilitator, just a friend, who is trusted by both countries. We have an excellent relationship with Armenia. We have an excellent relationship with Azerbaijan. I personally have a very trusted relationship with both leaders.
Therefore, Georgia's interest is to secure a long-term, long-lasting peace and stability in our region. Georgia under my government has achieved an uninterrupted, unprecedented peace and stability. Under every leadership in Georgia we had conflicts, we had wars, we had a civil war and we were losing territories. This is the only period when Georgia did not have any war, we were not losing territories and we are growing, making our country stronger and we are getting richer. This is something that brings prosperity to our population, to our people.
Of course, the challenge related to the occupation is still there. It has not disappeared, but we chose a policy of strategic patience. Why am I saying this? Because there are things we cannot solve immediately. Right? Therefore, one needs patience, one needs a long-term strategy, an action plan and one has to follow it. One needs to be consistent in achieving this plan.
In the last 10 years, Georgia made - I would say - very attractive, impressive reforms and achievements. I was privileged to sign the Association Agreement with the European Union in 2014; We signed the Free Trade Agreement with Europe; We got the Visa-Free Regime with the European Union and last year was historic, because we got the European Perspective; And just 2 days ago, it was another historic decision of the European Commission, which gave the recommendation to the Council to grant the candidacy status to Georgia. This is a historic achievement. Why? Because Georgia and Georgian people, my government and our ruling party have made a very concrete decision. It is an irreversible one: we want to get closer to Europe; we want to become a fully-fledged member of the European Union and we are moving in this direction consistently, step-by-step getting closer to this national - let's say - plan.
At the same time, we managed to increase our economy. It has tripled since 2012. National currency has appreciated strongly and Gross Domestic Currency (GDP) Per Capita doubled in USD in the last 3 years. Inflation is very low. Together with Armenia, we are the fastest growing economies in the world right now. And it is not a coincidence. We are creating good policies and effective governance and because of that we are ensuring a strong economic growth for our population, for our people. It brings more jobs, greater stability and higher predictability for businesses and investors. Foreign Direct Investments (FDI), for example, was record-high last year. Poverty and unemployment are at historic lows, while international reserves of the country - at historic high.
All I am saying is that nothing would happen if there were no peace in Georgia. Peace is crucial; Peace is something we need to achieve. World right now needs less warmongers; we need more peacemakers, because right now what we see is that we are very concerned about how this war in Ukraine will end. We are very concerned how this situation will evolve in the Middle East or elsewhere.
Therefore, countries like Georgia, Armenia - small countries, but strong nations - we are one of the oldest nations on earth - are definitely interested in maintaining peace, stability and ensuring prosperity for our citizens. So, my point is that people and nations across the world need clarity and certainty. Right now we don't see any certainty. We don't see any predictability. Nobody knows what will be in the future, tomorrow.
Who is capable of solving these problems? Big countries; big super-powers. Again, I want to repeat that countries like Georgia, Armenia or Azerbaijan - small countries - need to have a clear vision from the western big powers. Right?
Therefore, I want to once again reiterate and confirm that Georgia is interested in maintaining peace and stability. We are absolutely confident that we will be able to achieve the de-occupation of our territories, step-by-step, through our prudent, very careful but wise policies. This is the only choice that Georgia has right now.
I want to underline one more thing: in the last 10 years and more, we have not done anything at the expense of our sovereignty, territorial integrity or our national interests! We are doing everything for our people! We are doing everything best for our people and our future!
Once again, thanks for giving me this opportunity to speak about ourselves. Once again, I want to thank the organizers, you - Mr. Duclos - and one last note: 2 years ago we successfully mediated - I would say that it was the first mediation and a precedent we created together with Prime Minister Pashinyan and President Aliyev - when Azerbaijan released 15 detainees through Georgian mediation and Armenia gave maps of mined territories. Therefore, Georgia is capable of achieving these results and I think that trust is crucial here, because when somebody is offering mediation this mediator should be trusted by both parties. If there is no trust, there will be no successful mediation.
And one more thing: I said it in Davos this January that parties may not trust each other, but there should be cooperation. Without cooperation, without negotiations and peaceful dialogue, there will be no peace. Thank you!"
"Georgia has a strategic partnership and friendly relations with Azerbaijan. Georgia has a strategic partnership and friendly relationship with our brotherly nation - Armenia. Therefore, Georgia cannot be biased in this situation. Georgia is neutral; 100% neutral and we cannot take any side in this situation. My friend - Nikol Pashinyan - knows this very well. My friend - Ilham Aliyev - knows this very well. So, therefore, I think we should ask these questions to the leaders - Prime Minister Pashinyan and President Aliyev. So, I would not comment on that, because I want to safeguard our neutrality and our unbiased position in our region. I think this is in the interests of the 3 of us.
We had a very fruitful meeting last month, when I hosted the Tbilisi Silk Road Forum and I am grateful that my friend - Nikol Pashinyan - visited Georgia and the Prime Minister of Azerbaijan also attended the Forum. I think it was a good opportunity as the 3 of us managed to sit down and talk about the future of our region, about our future cooperation on how to overcome all these difficulties and barriers that Prime Minister Pashinyan just described. So, I think that Georgia should maintain its neutral position here. Thank you for understanding!"
"Once again, I want to say how concerned we are about all these crises, all these conflicts and wars in the world and the author of the question mentioned the ongoing crisis in the Middle East - situation between Israel and Hamas. Georgia is pro-peace, of course. We are against the terrorism. We condemn terrorism and terrorist attacks on the civilians. Again, I want to repeat what I said in the beginning. I said that countries need solutions. If you cannot solve an issue through war, you've got to sit down and talk; negotiate. That is my last word about this situation. Thank you!"