Georgian President-elect Speaks Against Russia in Her 1st Foreign Interviews
By Gvantsa Gabekhadze
Monday, December 3
Georgian President-elect Salome Zourabichvili has spoken about the Russian aggression against Georgia and Ukraine in her first interviews with international media.
She stated that the NATO and the EU are her and the Georgian people’s choice and that the international community should stand by the countries which are being suppressed by Russia.
“I do not think we can move directly to new cooperation until Russia behaves like this,” Zourabichvili said in an interview with the BBC Russian service.
"Taking into consideration what is happening at the occupation line now - people are being kidnapped and the line is moving closer to us, or considering how Russia treats Ukraine, I do not think we can move directly to a new cooperation," she added.
She said that Georgia has a pro-European policy and if western partners start a dialogue with Russia, Georgia will not stay away.
“It is impossible to stay alone with Russia in the current configuration considering the aggressive attitude of Russia.”
"That is why we should be closer to our partners and they should be beside and behind us. In the future, we should have a dialogue, but we should not do it alone. This should be part of a joint dialogue. If this happens, we should be supported by our partners. We need to develop our position and agree on it with our European partners.
“If our partners begin a dialogue with Russia, we should make sure that Georgia is not left aside and that the principles of Georgia – sovereignty and territorial integrity are part of these negotiations and are protected," Zourabichvili said.
In her interviews with Israeli i24NEWS and Euronews, Zourabichvili said that she will use her contacts as the former French-European diplomat to help her country integrate itself into the Euro-Atlantic structures.
Zourabichvili,66, was born in Paris in a family of Georgian political emigrants. She attended some of the most prestigious French schools, such as the Institutd'EtudesPolitiques de Paris (Sciences Po), and began a master's program at Columbia University in New York in the academic year of 1972-1973.
She abandoned her studies and joined the French foreign service in 1974, becoming a career diplomat with jobs in Rome, the United Nations, Brussels, and Washington.
The first time Zourabichvili visited Georgia was in 1986 during a break from her job at the French Embassy in Washington.
Salome Zourabichvili was Head of the Division of International and Strategic Issues of National Defence General Secretariat of France in 2001-2003. She was appointed as the Ambassador of France to Georgia in 2003.
Mikhail Saakashvili, the 3rd President of Georgia nominated her as Foreign Minister in his new government and Zourabichvili was the first female to be appointed to this post in Georgia on 18 March 2004.
She was fired by former Prime Minister ZurabNogaideli in October 2005 after a series of disputes with members of parliament.
Shortly before her dismissal was announced, Zourabichvili resigned from the French foreign service, which had continued to pay her a salary while she was a minister, and announced that she would remain in Georgia to go into politics.
In November 2005 she set up the organization Salome Zourabichvili’s Movement. In January 2006 she announced the establishment of a new political party Georgia's Way.
On 12 November 2010, Zourabichvili announced her withdrawal from the leadership of Georgia's Way and continued her career abroad, as a coordinator of UN panel of experts on Iran.
In the 2016 parliamentary elections in Georgia, now under the Georgian Dream leadership, Zourabichvili participated as Tbilisi Mtatsminda District majoritarian candidate and won the race, took her seat in the legislative body.
For the 2018 presidential elections, the Georgian Dream ruling party stated that it supported independent presidential candidate Zourabichvili.
After she defeated the United National Movement opposition candidate in the election runoff on 28 November, Zourabichvili stated that she would visit European countries on her first official trips.
