Saakashvili Congratulates Georgians on the New Year

Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili congratulated the people on the New Year from Svaneti. Summarizing the internal political processes for the country, Saakashvili called 2010 “a return point year” when “the order of the society was fulfilled and dialogue changed the political rivalry”. “Last year made Georgian politics more transparent, the politicians started to do openly what they did in a concealed way in the past. The epicenter of political events was brought to Parliament Hall and it became possible to establish civilized relations with leading opposition parties regarding the protection of the country’s interests,” he said welcoming this “very healthy process” enabling the society to make more objective decisions. Calling it “our successful step towards democracy” recognized by the whole world, the president spoke about the first local self-Government and Tbilisi City Mayor elections as the part of the course defined by the Rose Revolution in 2003.

2010 was an exceptional year with new developments made by Georgian people as a result of the national cheerfulness, courage and aspiration towards a better future, Saakashvili said encouraging the Georgians to take care of the country with the same effort as in 2010 and make important steps towards the full-scale de-occupation by standing together in protecting the “victorious Georgia”. Emphasizing the failure of “...our enemy to put Georgia into international isolation,” the Georgian President stressed the international support for our country which has never been “…so united and firm as it is today”. “If in 2009 Russia’s occupation and Georgia’s territorial integrity had been the subject of controversies among the leaders of civilized world there is no doubt about it any more,” Saakashvili said, hoping that this would be the beginning of a route that will by all means, lead us to the de-occupation and final integration of our country.

Georgia, according to the President, has managed to deal with economic obstacles at the most difficult stage of the economic crises and remain standing on the way to recovery. Acknowledging the difficulties caused by high prices and unemployment for our population Saakashvili said that the flow of investments which started in our country after the period of crises, has brought new enterprises and new foundations for creating new jobs. Moreover, all the projects launched in 2010 had been of “historical importance” in political and economical aspects aimed at giving “a new firmness to our statehood that never existed before, but was so very important.”

Promising that Anaklia and Mestia tourism zones would soon be known worldwide, Saakashvili spoke about the development of the best tourism infrastructure in Anaklia and the rehabilitation of Mestia which would bring our country additional millions of income and will create thousands of jobs. Recollecting the glorious “minutes of awards” in 2010, Saakashvili welcomed the success of our Georgian opera singers around the world, the promotion of our soccer players, traditional achievements of our rugby players and our basketball team’s participation in the final stage of the European championship. Wishing all the best for 2011 Saakashvili hoped that Georgia would continue on the path towards modernization, which will lead to a more civilized, developed world and will turn the Georgian people into its valuable members.

“People from various countries had arrived in Batumi, the regional center to welcome the New Year and tens of million people will be arriving here in future,” the President said joining the public walking in Batumi on January 1st. Sharing his great plans for renovating the seaside town with the Batumi citizens, Saakashvili spoke of the great potential the region has in attracting visitors. “We have one of the best red wines in the whole world, but we used to be weaker at white wine, that’s why we have invited foreign technologists to promote Adjara's high quality wine production at a Georgian winery,” Saakashvili said announcing the building of a new Georgian technological university matching the standards of the 21st century.