YouSaid · the spoken record

Mikheil SAAKASHVILI

lines on the record: 223
first: 2006-09-24
most recent: 2013-09-24
sittings or episodes: 8
sources: un-general-debate

Every line below is reproduced as it was said and linked to the record it came from. Nothing here is summarised or generated. Directory · Search · Corrections

“We are a nation that is proud of our soldiers, who stood up to a force of Russian invaders one hundred times the size of our contingent, and gave us and the world time to mobilize and to protect and save our independence — something that, with all due respect, many much bigger and more powerful nations could not do in the twentieth century. We are and we should remain a nation united in our historical identity and our desire to join the European family of democratic nations, the family we should never have been separated from in the first place, our family. The path of the Georgian people towards freedom, regional unity and European integration is far from over, and I will continue to dedicate every day of my life to its success, as a proud citizen of a proud nation.”
2013-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 68 (2013)
“We promised them this project, but we did not promise them that it would be smooth going. We were very ambitious, and that was because our people were so mature and so brave. I want to tell them from this rostrum how humble I feel in the light of the sacrifices and the efforts they made. We are and should remain a nation united in a common love for freedom and dignity. We are and should remain a nation united in the deepest respect for the sacrifices made by our soldiers, a nation sharing the same sorrow when they lose their lives - in Afghanistan, for instance - and taking the same pride in their bravery.”
2013-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 68 (2013)
“We did many good things, but like any leader — and when I became President, I was then the youngest president in the world — I realize that some things were done at a very high cost because of lack of experience. In our rush to impose a new reality against the background of internal and external threats, we cut corners and certainly made mistakes. At times we went too far and at other times not far enough. I fully acknowledge my responsibility in that regard, and I sincerely feel for all those who believe that they did not benefit enough from our work, or even that they were victims of our radical methods. I want to tell all Georgian citizens — those who supported our project, our policies and our party and those who rejected them — how proud I am of their maturity.”
2013-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 68 (2013)
“We need to prepare for the time when hundreds of thousands, in fact, more than half a million, internally displaced Georgians and members of other ethnic groups return to their deserted homes, because that time will come much sooner than we think. As my second term nears its end, I take pride in Georgia’s many accomplishments during my tenure. We ushered Georgia out of a state of darkness, introduced unprecedented transparency into our public service, put our children back in school and got rid of the gangs. We have brought our nation closer than ever before to its European dream and worked tirelessly to renew the spirit of tolerance that guided Georgia in our glorious past.”
2013-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 68 (2013)
“That is why the Georgian Parliament has recognized the genocide of the Cherkezian people — one of the least known and tragic pages of the history of the world, when an entire nation was wiped because their land was needed by the Russian Empire. We need to build on those efforts. We need to prepare for the time when the Empire collapses, so that its legacy of hatred is swiftly overcome. And we, as citizens of Georgia, need to prepare for the time when Russian troops will leave our occupied regions, when Moscow will withdraw from Tskhinvali and Sukhumi, Abkhazia. We need to prepare ourselves to welcome back our Ossetian and Abkhaz fellow citizens as brothers and sisters and not as enemies.”
2013-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 68 (2013)
“They ordered one of them to remove the chair on which Baysongour was standing in order to execute him. The Russians knew what they were doing — they hoped to fuel the local vendettas and oppose the people, which is an old tradition in the Caucasus. Seeing that, the valiant commander Baysongour moved the chair himself, committing a suicide forbidden under all religions, including Islam, and preserving the relations between neighbours. Despite that one failure, how many times has the strategy of dividing neighbours encountered success among the nations of the Caucasus? It needs to come to an end. That is why I have launched several projects during my presidency to reinforce the people-to- people contacts between North and South Caucasus, projects focusing mostly on education and on university exchange.”
2013-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 68 (2013)
“For the first time, an efficient nation State was being built in the Caucasus, and the reforms had to be crushed before they could bear all their fruits. Unity should be our rule in Eastern Europe, including in the divided Caucasus. I have spoken about the beginnings of the war in Abkhazia. I could have recalled an older scene that symbolically characterizes the history of the Caucasus. It was at the end of the rebellion led by Shamil, the great imam of the Northern Caucasus, against the Russian Empire, after Shamil had surrendered and after the last Chechen leader still fighting, Baysongour, had been wounded and captured. As Baysongour was going to be hanged, the Russian officers brought together a crowd of Dagestani men to witness the execution.”
2013-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 68 (2013)
“The letter was and remains one of the most impressive expressions of the nature and strategy of the imperialistic project. It states that the ongoing reforms were dangerous for both Russia and Prussia because they would turn Poland into a true State, that the reforms needed to be stopped and that Poland should be attacked and dismembered before reforms were fully implemented so that it never needed to be occupied again. The letter will not sound unfamiliar to those who know how much Vladimir Putin loathed the Georgian experience during the past decade. Many Russians were asking, if the once-corrupt Georgia, a criminal country, a mafia-ridden country, considered to be a failed country, could succeed, why is it that Russia cannot succeed? It was an ideologically dangerous project.”
2013-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 68 (2013)
“By launching the Eastern Partnership as a response to the 2008 invasion of Georgia, the European Union has offered to our nations a platform for us to cooperate under its benevolent umbrella. We should invest much more in it. We should develop common projects, first and foremost focusing on the necessary reforms that we should carry out together, because reforms mean for all of us statehood and independence. Russian Empress Catherine II knew it well. When Poland started to successfully implement an ambitious programme of reforms based on precepts from the French and British Enlightenments despite Russian attempts to counter those reforms, she wrote a long and secret letter to the German Emperor, Frederick the Great of Prussia.”
2013-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 68 (2013)
“Some leaders and some countries in the past understood that the freedom of one was dependent on the freedom of all the other subjugated nations, like Poland, which for many centuries dreamed of uniting all persecuted people, or like the Poland of Marshal Pilsudski, which invited all the oppressed people or their officers to unite under the flag of Polish independence and Polish military forces. But never did our ancestors benefitefrom a force that was vast and powerful enough, that understood its strategic interest was to preserve the sovereignty of each of our nations. Today that force exists; it is, with all its deficiencies, the European Union. As we come closer to the Vilnius Eastern Partnership Summit, I would like to reiterate a call that I have made several times in the recent years.”
2013-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 68 (2013)
“Nobody knows whether the process will be calm or violent, whether his successor will be nationalistic or liberal, or both together, but what matters is something else — Russia will no longer be an empire. It will become, finally, a normal nation State. That is the horizon we should all prepare for together. Meanwhile, as our region remains an area of confrontation, the formerly captive nations should unite their strengths instead of cultivating their divisions.”
2013-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 68 (2013)
“It will happen because entire regions have been alienated by discrimination and violence — because the people of Chechnya, Ingushetia, Dagestan, Tatarstan, Bashkortostan and many other places have been so persecuted that they do not feel part of any common project with the central authorities in Moscow. It will happen because the frustrations, angers and hatreds are too strong to bear and the unifying ideal is too absent. It will happen, not in the coming decades but in the coming years. A few years from now, the Assembly will recall my words. Vladimir Putin will have left the Kremlin and vanished from Russian politics, even if he says that he will be there for another 20 years or more. Russian citizens will remember him as a ghost from the old times — from the times of corruption and oppression.”
2013-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 68 (2013)
“It will happen because ethnic discrimination in Russia is being used in its territories, but it will not make Russia a stronger and more united State. It will happen because the endless resources provided by the revenues of oil and gas are challenged by the perspectives offered by the exploitation of shale gas and shale oil. The shale gas revolution is really undermining the last authoritarian empire in the world. It will happen because gas alone does not replace economic modernization. It will happen because of corruption and the absence of justice.”
2013-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 68 (2013)
“The very people who are supposed to serve it do not believe in the viability of the project. Rejected at its margins, rejected at its centre, the imperialistic path will come to a dead end, the Eurasian Union will fail, and Russia will in the end become a nation State with borders, instead of margins — a real country with real borders. Then it will start to seek stable relations with stable neighbours. Then cooperation will replace confrontation. It will happen, and much sooner than people think, to the benefit of the margins, but most of all to the benefit of the Russian people themselves. It will happen because the imperial project has become absurd for a generation of Russian citizens who are among the world’s most enthusiastic users of the Internet.”
2013-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 68 (2013)
“It is certainly not the Russian century, and the Russian Empire is the last, anachronistic empire in the world. If we look back at history, France and the United Kingdom lost their colonies not only because the colonies fought for their independence, but also because people in Paris and London ultimately did not believe in their empire anymore. Exactly the same thing is happening in Russia nowadays. The imperial dream is being rejected first, as we have seen, at its margins. But, most crucially, perhaps, the idea of the Empire is rejected at its very centre. Such a rejection does not manifest itself in public protests alone or in the rising polls of the opposition in the main cities of Russia. It expresses itself in the universal cynicism of Russian elites towards Putin’s Eurasian vision.”
2013-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 68 (2013)
“Passivity, mediocrity, the absence of national pride and a willingness to be enslaved are the only requirements. On the other hand, to form a real union there is no alternative but to make a herculean effort and meet exact criteria, because principles are precisely what create a union. To those who doubt, therefore, I say that it is precisely because the European Union demands effort and imposes criteria for joining — because the European Union does not seek to absorb us while the Eurasian Union dreams of absorption — that the choice should be obvious. But there is an even better reason for saying that the choice is obvious. The choice is obvious because the Russian project is doomed to fail. No empire is sustainable today; we are living in the twenty-first century.”
2013-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 68 (2013)
“It took time — and many participants today, as victims of French imperialism or British imperialism, remember it well and painfully — for the French and British Empires to accept that third rejection. But giving up their colonies was the price they had to pay for the modernization of their economies and the development of their democracies. It was also the price to pay for European unification to become fully realized. The Eurasian Union is based on the exact opposite premise. It is fuelled by intolerance, it is lead by old structures of the KGB, and it is designed to revive an old empire. That is what the Eurasian Union is all about. Of course, joining the Eurasian Union is very easy. There are no social, economic or political criteria to be met; becoming a colony, in fact, requires no effort at all.”
2013-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 68 (2013)
“Everywhere it reached, the Empire inflamed the relations between subjugated peoples and separated them by a wall of fanatic antagonism. Unfortunately, it used to work. But what is even more unfortunate is that it is still working today. The European Union, the greatest political success of recent decades, has been built on three pillars, which could be characterized as three rejections — the rejection of the extreme nationalists who had led Europe to the collective suicide of two world wars and the horrors of nazism; the rejection of communism, which was threatening to be spread throughout the continent and the world; and, finally, the rejection of colonialism and imperialism.”
2013-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 68 (2013)
“They might recall — as I do too well — the beginning of the war in the Georgia region of Abkhazia in the early 1990s, when Georgian paramilitary groups were getting their weapons from the same Russian troops who were actually leading, directing and assisting the Abkhaz militia and bombing Georgian territory and bringing in Chechen mercenaries in order to kill any form of solidarity between nations of the North and the South Caucasus. They did so just as they sent — for the same reason, more than one century before — Georgian officers to the front line of their wars against the Chechens, Ingush and Dagestanis. We could also look at other margins throughout the times. We could look at Poland or Ukraine, and we would see the same pictures.”
2013-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 68 (2013)
“We need to know our history to understand that the same old imperialistic principle — divide and rule — is being applied today as it was two centuries ago. Looking at our region today, those who have some knowledge of Caucasian history might remember the Armenian-Azerbaijani bloodshed of 1905, directly created by the tsarist Administration; compare it to the beginning of the conflict in Karabakh in the late 1980s. The Russian army was present there, in large numbers. In front of its eyes, the war started and they pretended to help both sides, but in fact stirred up the conflict.”
2013-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 68 (2013)
“He told his Russian interrogators, “You can have my body, my flesh, but you will never have my soul.” Are we so deaf as not to hear the voices of the bishops and priests tortured and killed by Russian imperialists and Russian communists? Are we so uneducated that we do not recall who has repainted our churches and erased our sacred frescos? Are we so blind today not to see the destruction of our churches by the same people who erased our churches in the nineteenth century — Russians who are now in the occupied territory? We need to know our history. Our history teaches us that tolerance is the basis for sovereignty in our region. It is not only a moral duty; it is an issue of national security.”
2013-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 68 (2013)
“Are we so naive as to believe the lies of Putin and the others, as other generations have done, allowing our sovereignty to be kidnapped? Are we so unfair to our ancestors to think that their memory would be honoured by attacks on mosques or by pogroms? Are we so unaware of our own history that we allow it to repeat itself endlessly? When we hear the fake music of the orthodox brotherhood sung by Russian imperialists, can we not hear the true voice of Patriarch Kirion, who was assassinated, or the eternal voice of the Patriarch Ambrosi Khelaya, who was tortured for days and weeks only because he appealed to the Geneva Conference against the invasion of his country?”
2013-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 68 (2013)
“Their mouthpieces in our respective countries — that conscious or unconscious so-called fifth column — identify the European Union with the destruction of family values, the erosion of national traditions and the promotion of gays and lesbians, undermining our traditional religions. Strangely, in recent years, and even more so in recent months, we hear in Tbilisi, Kiev and Chisinau the same ugly music that was first orchestrated in Moscow. We hear that our traditions are collapsing under the influence of the West, that Christian holidays will be replaced by gay pride events and churches by a multicultural Disneyland. We hear that our Orthodox identity is under threat. And after all of that, we hear that we share with our former masters a common respect for decency and traditions.”
2013-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 68 (2013)
“European societies are far from perfect — we all know that. There too, one can have fears, doubts, angers, hatreds and social inequality. But there, at the same time, meritocracy prevails over nepotism, tolerance is a fundamental of public life and current opponents are the future ministers, and not prisoners to be or enemies to beat. The choice, when it is expressed in that way, is so obvious for the people of our region that some Kremlin strategists — they call themselves “polito- technologists” — have decided to cancel the truth and have shaped lies that they are spreading throughout Ukraine, Georgia, Moldova and many other places.”
2013-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 68 (2013)
“Today, I want precisely to explore that “why not?”. Much more than with a choice of foreign policy or of international alliances, our nations are confronted with a choice of society, a choice of life. Our people have to decide whether they accept to live in a world of fear and crime: a world in which differences are perceived as threats and minorities as punching bags; a world in which opponents are faced with selective justice or beatings; a world that we in our region all know very well, as do those in some other regions of the world, since this is the world from which we originate. The Eurasian Union is both our recent past and the future shaped for us by some ex-KGB officers in Moscow. On the opposite side, our revived traditions and our centuries-old aspirations have led us towards another world called Europe.”
2013-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 68 (2013)
“It makes me sick when KGB officer Vladimir Putin lectures the world about freedom, values and democracy. That is the least of the things he can do for the world, as the dictatorial leader of one of the last empires left. But that new project is much more dangerous than his lectures. The Eurasian Union has been shaped as an alternative to the European Union, and unveiled by Vladimir Putin as the main project of his new presidency — a new Russian empire. Because European and Euro-Atlantic integration take a lot of time and require tremendous effort; because there are moments when one might think one is pursuing a mirage; and because the threats are becoming so strong, the pressure so direct, while the promises seem so far away — some people in our region might fall victim to fatigue and ask themselves, “Why not?”.”
2013-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 68 (2013)
“We became the least corrupt country in Europe, the world’s number- one reformer — according to the World Bank — one of the top places for business and the least criminal country in Europe, after having been one of the most criminal. That was the virus that should be eliminated by every means possible. That is why the Georgian nation has suffered an embargo, a war, an invasion and an occupation — all since 2006. But it is also why the resistance of the Georgian people and the resilience of the Georgian democracy are of the utmost importance for the whole region. The efforts to roll back the advances of the European Union and of NATO in our region — progress based on the will of our people — are becoming ever more intense. Those efforts have a name: the Eurasian Union.”
2013-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 68 (2013)
“It is not about Gamsakhurdia — the first President of Georgia — Shevardnadze, Saakashvili, or the present Prime Minister Ivanishvili. Those names actually do not matter when the stakes are so high. This is about the possibility — or lack — of true statehood in Georgia and beyond. Why? Because the current Russian authorities know perfectly well that as soon as strong institutions are built in Ukraine, Georgia, Moldova or in any other place — as soon as functioning States emerge — such institutions, such States will reflect and enforce the will of their people, which is to become fully independent and move towards Europe. The Georgian experience of successful reforms and the creation of a functioning State was therefore considered to be a virus — one that could and would contaminate the whole post-Soviet region.”
2013-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 68 (2013)
“I have come here, in the name of the Georgian people, to ask the international community to react strongly to the aggression and to help us to put an end to the Russian annexation of our lands. The hostility of Vladimir Putin and his team towards the Government that I have had the privilege to lead for almost a decade has not been based on personal hatred or cultural misunderstanding. Any such interpretation was just a smokescreen. My predecessor, President Shevardnadze, came from the highest-level Soviet nomenklatura. He was returned to power in Georgia with direct Russian help in the 1990s, through a military coup. He was well known for his Soviet diplomatic skills — unlike me. And yet, Russia constantly undermined his authority and even tried to assassinate him several times.”
2013-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 68 (2013)
“We are one of very few nations in history — of which I am very proud — that has, unfortunately, sustained a full-blown attack by Russia. We are the only one, in many centuries, whose statehood and independence have survived, despite a full-blown attack by the more than 100,000-strong Russian army, despite being bombed by 200 planes and attacked by the full Russian Black Sea fleet and tens of thousands of mercenaries. Our statehood and independence have survived despite all of those things. But let us not now risk losing any of that in a time of peace. We have survived because were united; we survived because the world was with us. I hope that the world will remain with us when that pressure is on us.”
2013-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 68 (2013)
“The annexation of Georgian lands by Russian troops continues. Yesterday, the occupants again expelled Georgian citizens from their houses and are destroying their villages, homes and the houses of their parents and grandparents. In daylight, they are taking over their cemeteries and water systems with total impunity. Despite the friendly statements made by the new Georgian Government in recent weeks and months, the Russian military continues to advance its position, dividing communities with new barbed wire, threatening our economy, moving towards the vital Baku-Supsa pipeline, approaching closer and closer to the main highway of Georgia, and thus putting into question the very sustainability of our country.”
2013-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 68 (2013)
“The conflict itself is their objective, since it keeps both nations dependent and blocks their integration into the European common space. Do members think that the electoral defeat of the forces that led the Orange Revolution in Ukraine has led the Kremlin to take a softer approach to that country? On the contrary. I spoke yesterday to my colleague Viktor Yanukovych. His Government is under constant attack and pressure from Russia. That is what is happening on a daily basis, again ahead of the European summit in Vilnius. Russian officials now speak openly about dismembering that nation. I just heard the speech two days ago. Do members think that the Kremlin would agree to discuss the de-occupation of our regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, now that the Government has changed in Tbilisi? Far from it.”
2013-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 68 (2013)
“Neighbouring countries in constant turmoil is what the Kremlin is seeking. It rejects the very idea of strong Governments in Georgia, Ukraine or Moldova, even ones that try to be friendly to its interests. I was never a great fan of what the French call “la langue de bois”. But, as my second term nears its end, I feel the urge more than heretofore to speak my mind. Let us be very concrete. Do members think that Vladimir Putin wants Armenia to decisively triumph over Azerbaijan, for instance? No. That would make Armenia too strong and potentially too independent. Do members think then that the contrary is true, that Moscow wants Baku to prevail over Yerevan? Obviously not. The current rise of a modernized, dynamic Azerbaijan is a nightmare for Russian leaders. No, they do not want anyone to prevail.”
2013-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 68 (2013)
“As I speak, the Eastern European countries aspiring to join the European family of free and democratic nations are facing constant pressures and threats. Armenia has been cornered and forced to sign a customs union that is not in that nation’s interest or in those of our region. Moldova is being blockaded. Ukraine is under constant attack. Azerbaijan faces extraordinary pressure. And Georgia is occupied. Why? Because an old empire is trying to reclaim its bygone borders. “Borders” is actually not the right word, since that empire — be it the Russian Empire, the Soviet Union, the Russian Federation, or the Eurasian Union — never had borders. It had only margins. I came today to speak in the name of those margins. Unlike most nations, the Russian Federation has no interest in having stable States around it.”
2013-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 68 (2013)
“If the West is an anachronism, why do millions of Poles, Czechs, Estonians, Romanians and others cherish so much the day they entered NATO? Why are millions of Ukrainians, Georgians, Moldovans and others desperately knocking on the doors of the European Union? If freedom is no longer fashionable, how do we explain that the suicide of a previously unknown citizen in a remote Tunisian town has changed the map of the world? No, history did not come to an end in 1989 or 1991, as was proclaimed, and it never will. Freedom is still its driving force and its goal. Everywhere, men and women who want to live in freedom are confronted by the forces of tyranny. The question is: are we going to be actors or spectators in that confrontation?”
2013-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 68 (2013)
“In the Middle East the glorious images of cheering crowds in Cairo and Tunis have been replaced by the horrendous videos of the gassed children of Damascus. There are many good reasons to be disillusioned. But should the untrammelled optimism of the 1990s be replaced by an equally untrammelled pessimism, by a sense of resignation that stifles hope? Should the fact that the expansion of democracy and freedom turns out to require profound struggle cause us to renounce our beliefs and our principles? I have come here today to share the hopes on behalf of my nation and to speak out on behalf of my Georgian people against such pervasive fatalism. I came here to address those who doubt, those who hesitate and those who are tempted to give in.”
2013-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 68 (2013)
“The optimism of the early 1990s, when the spread of liberal and democratic values seemed natural, when the end of history had been proclaimed, and when the United Nations was set to become the heart and the soul of a world finally at peace, the optimism of that era — noticeable when I was a student in New York and visited the United Nations as an intern — was then crushed by a wave of pessimism and cynicism. The world is not at peace. Humankind has not reconciled with itself, and the United Nations did not become the heart and soul of a united globe. Western civilization, once triumphant, is now trying to tackle a deep economic, social, and spiritual crisis. In Eastern Europe the colour revolutions are challenged by the very forces they defeated a few years ago.”
2013-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 68 (2013)
“It is a great honour to once again represent my beloved nation at this rostrum. During the past decade, when I have had the privilege to address the Hall, Georgia has moved from a failed State to a market democracy. We have experienced both advances and setbacks, both breakthroughs and mistakes. But the world has been able to witness my nation’s constant commitment to freedom. I ask members today once again to hear the voice of a nation that transcends political, social and religious differences in a common love for freedom — a voice that, despite all the problems we have encountered and the challenges we still have to overcome, is full of hope. Looking at our world today, I think that this voice of hope is needed.”
2013-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 68 (2013)
“The best defence for my country is openness, democracy, transparency and the work of institutions against all of those forces, against all the international mafias and against social and international pressures that contravene international law. Let us defend the institutions that support, strengthen and preserve our choice to be open and free.”
2012-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 67 (2012)
“By constantly renewing the social contract, which is at the heart of every democratic nation, we will ensure that democratic principles and practices are with us for good. I trust the Georgian people. I trust the international community and I trust that they will not allow others to destroy the will of my people or destroy my small nation’s choice. I stated earlier that democracy is a difficult, sometimes noisy system. It presents challenges to those in and outside Government, and it forces leaders to place their trust in society. Personally, I see no credible alternative, and I saw no better reason to take risks. Fear is the paramount weapon of autocrats, while trust is a definition of democrats. Let us all trust our citizens, even if autocratic forces much bigger than us are threatening us.”
2012-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 67 (2012)
“They will express diverse opinions and wishes, and a new future for our nation will emerge. Openness will be further enshrined. Transparency will be strengthened, and public accountability confirmed. The main thing that will be confirmed is that Georgia will not go back. It will not be dragged back under any pressure, under any dirty money from the North, under any threat of military exercise or direct military invasion or mass-scale disturbances or the emergence of some kind of militias emerge, as some have threatened. It is not going to work. According to the European Union, we are the safest country and the least corrupt country in Europe with strong Government institutions that cannot be bribed and cannot be undermined.”
2012-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 67 (2012)
“Violence and intimidation can never be legitimized, and a minority can never forcibly impose its views on the will of the majority. Guns, money, threats, hatred, blackmail and fear cannot be allowed to hijack the process. At the same time, we recognize the potential threat of a majority trampling the rights and liberties of a minority. We respond to that threat by protecting the right to dissent, we respond by promoting pluralism, we respond by allowing every voice to be heard. And we respond by the law. I can testify to how difficult the process is, but I can also state unequivocally that no lasting alternative exists. I want finally to share with the Assembly my hope and my trust. A few days from now, Georgians from all social, religious and ethnic backgrounds will collectively decide their future in an unoccupied part of our territory.”
2012-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 67 (2012)
“Those short cuts never succeed in the long run. In every culture, in every society, in every corner of the world, people will ultimately demand the right to choose their own future. Only Governments that meet that demand will achieve true stability. The fundamental contract is not always without difficulties. Governments that commit themselves to the process must be prepared for turbulence and disagreement. What is difficult for elected leaders is often beneficial for citizens; what is challenging for ruling parties is often necessary for the State. In pursuing the goals of freedom and accountability, our common efforts must be governed by the rule of law and a commitment to respect these fundamental principles.”
2012-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 67 (2012)
“Powerful voices continue to send the message that democracy, transparency and accountability are not possible. They say that freedom, meritocracy and respect for human rights are fundamentally alien. Georgia has proven them wrong. Our survival story has proven them wrong, just as many here today have in the past. As we have been learning from many people in the Hall, our efforts have shown that corruption, intolerance, intimidation, fear and violence are neither cultural nor inevitable. Advanced democracy is a sign of a mature society. It is not easy to govern. Dissent, pluralism and vibrant debate, which are threats to others, are strengths to us. Our view is clear. One cannot gain enduring stability at the expense of liberty, and one cannot ensure lasting prosperity by sacrificing individual rights.”
2012-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 67 (2012)
“Limited sovereignty as Brezhnev once defined it and Putin reshaped it is not a fate. Every country represented here is a free nation. We are all free peoples, made up of free individuals, and our future depends on us, on what we want and what we do. There is nothing easy about saying this, and I do not say it lightly. The Georgian people know the price of freedom and still they think their freedom is worth it, because with freedom comes development and happiness, true stability and true peace. Our region will one day become a zone where free people interact peacefully, where respect will replace contempt. All the peoples of Central Asia and Eastern Europe, Ukraine, the Republic of Moldova and Russia, the South Caucasus and North Caucasus, should hold hands together and shout down the voices of the past.”
2012-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 67 (2012)
“Most of that legacy has migrated to other countries, including Russia. Corruption, coercion, intimidation, oppression, cynicism and despair: we condemn that way of life, that way of Government and of being governed. No, we can, we should and we will overcome that legacy. We are doing it in Georgia and it can be done everywhere else. Will we face strong opposition? Yes. And we are well placed to say that, since our country is regularly threatened with destruction and annihilation, for the very reason that we choose another path — the path of freedom, the path of transparency and accountability, the path of meritocracy and an open society — we know how difficult it is to overcome those forces. But we know we can. Sovietism and post-Sovietism is not a fate. Organized crime and violence is not a fate. Slavery is not a fate.”
2012-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 67 (2012)
“I make the call knowing what our responsibilities are. In the face of the threats confronting us, our commitment to democracy and transparency is more important than ever. We remember the words of the American founding father who said that whoever sacrifices his freedom for security deserves neither. That is not just our response; it is the best response. Our transformation and the hostility it has generated among those who feel threatened by freedom have continued to make Georgia a test case for the entire region. What is at stake in Georgia today is the very idea that democracy can thrive in our part of the world. Our common legacy from the dark time of the Soviet Union is now almost gone from Georgia. Organized crime — and Georgia was a hotbed of organized crime — is now almost gone from Georgia.”
2012-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 67 (2012)
“It is because if Georgia survives and if Georgia continues, it sets a bad example for all the others, including the Russian people themselves, from the point of view of the present Russian Government. The prison scandal we had recently involved things that happen almost every day in Russia, and are reported on social media in Russia as frequently, and no one there gives a damn about it. In the first case that came up in Georgia, two ministers and scores of others were arrested, which also sets a bad example in the eyes of people who want to suppress freedom. That is why it is so important that Georgian democracy is back and safe. It means that the whole post-Soviet space, our whole part of the world, will move in the right direction. I call on the world to pay attention and send the right signals.”
2012-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 67 (2012)
“One million tourists will travel to Georgia from Russia this year and they will take back 1 million stories of successful development, of a country with new hospitals, with new cities, with sharply reduced poverty — a country moving towards universal health coverage and that has enjoyed double-digit growth, and is this year enjoying 8 per cent growth. It is a country that, even without oil and gas, is looking much better than most of the Russian region. Indeed, Russia’s then- President Medvedev had to acknowledge twice in one week, in an open forum of journalists and his own parliament, that Georgian reforms were so successful that Russia had no choice but to study and copy them, even if they hate the Georgian leadership. That is the ideological issue. That is why they want us out. That is why they want Georgia off the map.”
2012-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 67 (2012)
“Because Russia failed to destroy Georgian democracy in 2008, countries in Central Asia such as Ukraine and Belarus, people in the Republic of Moldova and Eastern Europe, all think that freedom is the right choice after all and that even the smallest free country cannot be undermined and destroyed if it stands strong and united and if the international community is there to help. That sets a very bad example from the Russian point of view. On the other hand, because of Georgia’s reforms and because of our openness to the great nation of Russia, we introduced visa-free travel for tourists from Russia.”
2012-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 67 (2012)