President Zurabishvili Delivers First Report in Parliament
President of Georgia Salome Zurabishvili delivered her first report before the Members of Parliament on March 6.
The first female president of the country started her report by summing up her visits abroad in the rank of president, stating that her meetings with the EU and NATO officials, and follow-on meetings with her French and German counterparts, had brought Georgia closer to its foreign partners and states.
Zurabishvili spoke about her visits to Afghanistan and Azerbaijan, highlighting she was warmly welcomed by the officials there. She said she raised the issue of Russian occupation during every meeting and underlined that Georgia will not put up with the injustice of it.
“Georgia will not reconcile with the occupation, abductions and creeping lines that are parts of [Russia's] violent policy. The formats of negotiations are at a technical level at present. I talked to our partners about the necessity to restore high political formats. Our partners must tell Russia that games ending in zero points are not in the interests of anyone and that leading an aggressive policy is the way backward,” she added.
The Georgian President named the diaspora and cultural relations as priorities of her activities and as such, she met with students and emigrants during her foreign visits.
She underlined that having the status of a Georgian citizen was very important for emigrants to keep close links with the motherland. Zurabishvili said that work was ongoing with the Justice Ministry to facilitate procedures for the restoration and preservation of citizenship.
“It is our duty to create favorable conditions for immigrants’ return to the country and to provide them with information about the demand for specialists in employment that allows them to fit their professional plans with the local market,” she said.
Zurabishvili also claimed that neither the democratic system nor state stability would be preserved in the country without protected and objective information.
“We cannot close our eyes to the threats which intimidate people and society in the form of slander and false information,” she stressed.
The President underlined that polarization was raging in the country and that a violent environment intimidated the lives of all. “The public expects boiling water to become calmer. It needs peace and reconciliation. This requires the processes developed in information and social networks to be brought within civilized frameworks. We should stop fresh floods of misinformation, slander, the language of hatred and secret recordings exposing private lives,” she added.
In addition, the President mentioned a number of other challenges that the country is facing, like unemployment, healthcare and social issues, poor conditions for disabled people and increased cancer cases.
Prime Minister Mamuka Bakhtadze, members of the government and Tbilisi Mayor Kakha Kaladze attended the delivery of the annual speech by President Salome Zurabishvili.
By Thea Morrison
Photo source: 1TV