Levan Mikeladze Foundation established

A foundation has been established in memory of the well-known Georgian diplomat and public figure Levan Mikeladze. Mikeladze came to particularly public notice after he resigned from the post of Georgia's Ambassador to Switzerland in protest at the Georgian authorities using excessive force to disperse the protest rally in Tbilisi on November 7 2007. He later joined the opposition Alliance for Georgia, but died unexpectedly on 26 April 2009.

His colleagues, diplomats, friends and professors, spoke about the lesson in dignity Levan Mikeladze gave to the Georgian public. Foreign diplomats also expressed their admiration for the personal skills of Levan Mikeladze in person and by video link.

The Foundation has two main aims: to establish a research centre which will study the South Caucasus and its neighbourhood, which was Levan's dream, and to preserve his memory. His family members and his widow Lali thanked the audience for their dedication to the memory of Levan Mikeladze.