Georgia’s Zurabishvili: Our answer to Russian occupation is peace
By Tea Mariamidze
Friday, September 27
While addressed the participants of the 74th Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York on September 25, Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili stressed that the answer to the war and Russian occupation is peace.
The President noted that the August 2008 Russia-Georgia war was followed by the occupation of the 20% of Georgia’s territory, which aggravated situation at occupied Abkhazia and South Ossetia and divided local families from each other.
Zurabishvili underlined that Georgia fully complies with the 2008 ceasefire agreement, has no military force near the occupation line and is also unilaterally refusing to use force.
“As President of Georgia, today I am speaking here of the hardship of those who live along the administrative dividing line. They live in the conditions where relatives and villages are divided, where accidents and provocations are part of everyday life and so-called borders are periodical changes. All of this makes it impossible to live a normal, peaceful life,” she said.
Moreover, the president stressed that in occupied Abkhazia and South Ossetia, human rights are regularly violated, free movement is limited and the right to access to healthcare and education is infringed by the occupant forces.
According to her, Georgia’s response to the occupation is the Peace Initiative Step Towards a Better Future, which envisages reaching out to the citizens of the occupied territories and allowing them access to health and education benefits, take advantage of business opportunities and at least participate in the economic development of Georgia.
“Georgia's response to the war is openness and tolerance, adding the country received 1,500,000 Russian tourists last year and, no incident was reported,” she added.
Zurabishvili emphasized that nothing can make Georgia abandon its ambitions and divert from the specific goals of Euro-Atlantic integration, adding her country has made significant progress in all of these areas, which can be perceived as a peaceful victory over war and occupation, tragedy and destruction.
“We refused to use force, but we did not refuse a dialogue. We are flexible, but that does not mean we have put up with the existing situation. Changes need to be made, but we cannot do it alone. We need everyone's involvement to achieve lasting peace in the region,” she said, noting that the format of the Geneva International Discussions should be changed and focused more on the resolution of the conflict, rather than its management.
“Any formal or informal forum and dialogue should be used to engage Russia in discussions on strict compliance with the terms of the ceasefire agreement,” she stressed and noted that the involvement of the international community is crucial in this regard.
In her speech, the president also spoke about the main challenges of the modern world - polarization, impairment of civic values and loss of respect, hate speech, false information, conspiracy theories, and the increased migration.
