Finnish, Slovak President to visit Georgia to Mark Independence Day
By Gvantsa Gabekhadze
Tuesday, May 22
The President of Finland, Sauli Niinisto and Slovak President, Andrej Kiska will visit Georgia on May 26 to mark the 100th anniversary of the First Republic of Georgia and Georgia’s Independence Day in Tbilisi.
“The president of Finland has called the visit historic as it will be the first visit of the country leader after a 26-year break,” the administration of the president of Georgia announced today.
Niinisto is coming to Georgia on the invitation of the Georgian president Giorgi Margvelashvili, as well as his Slovak counterpart.
The three presidents have had phone conversations and agreed about the visit details.
Georgia has announced a range of events to mark the 100th anniversary of the First Republic of Georgia.
In order to raise the people’s awareness of the important date the Foreign Ministry has organized public lectures, photo exhibitions, and open-door days in the capital Tbilisi until Independence Day.
On May 26 sights in various foreign countries will light up in colours of Georgia’s national flag-white and red.
The Democratic Republic of Georgia (DRG) existed from May 1918 to February 1921 and was the first modern establishment of a republic of Georgia.
The DRG was created after the collapse of the Russian Empire that began with the Russian Revolution of 1917.
Facing permanent internal and external problems, the young state was unable to withstand invasion by the Russian Red Army, and collapsed between February and March 1921 to become a Soviet republic.
