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 often say that after the Russians failed to physically destroy the Georgian leadership, failed to succeed in any of the purposes of their invasion and basically were forced to stay where they are, within occupied territories — in what most of the world and most international organizations call illegally occupied territories, meaning that they will have to withdraw — now they are trying to undermine us because they have a strong sense of unfinished business. It is not just the fate of a small country of less than 5 million people that is being played out in this scenario. The fate of the whole post-Soviet space is being played out, affecting 400 to 500 million people.”
2012-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 67 (2012)
“The first was to depose the Georgian Government, end Georgian democracy and physically destroy Georgia’s leadership. Those are not my words or a conspiracy theory. That is what they themselves overtly stated in every open and closed international forum. The second goal was to shut off the energy supply for different regions of the world and to monopolize the energy supply in the part of the world where Russia lies. That totally failed. Georgia is developing and its energy corridor is developing. The third goal was to stop the enlargment of NATO and to halt any kind of inclusion of the region into international organizations. Russia also failed at that goal.”
2012-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 67 (2012)
“If we look at history, we see that during the twentieth century it invaded many countries. The Soviet Union invaded Baltic countries; it invaded large parts of Poland and ended its independence. In 1956 the Soviet Union invaded Hungary, killed its President and ended its independence. In 1968 it invaded Czechoslovakia, deposed its Government and ended its independence. In 1979 it invaded a much bigger country than Georgia, Afghanistan, killed its President within one hour and ended its independence. In 2008 it invaded our country, a smaller country than any of those I have mentioned, and occupied part of its territory. However, none of the strategic goals of the Russian invasion was achieved. They had three explicit goals in invading Georgia.”
2012-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 67 (2012)
“I would like to use this opportunity to ask the world to pay attention during the next few days, to speak in a unified voice against these threats, in support of our sovereignty and democratic institutions. In short, the vigilance and engagement of Member States is required to ensure that history does not repeat itself and that 2012 does not become a repeat of 2008, or especially of 1921, when Russia ended our independence and we became a place that was dominated by violence and oppression for 70-plus years. We should look at what has happened in recent years. We had a massive-scale invasion by Russia, the successor to the Soviet Union, in 2008. We are a country of just 4.7 million people — less than 5 million people — and that country is 100 times larger, and well armed.”
2012-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 67 (2012)
“The Russian military has made the extraordinary decision to hold large-scale military exercises in the North and the South Caucasus on the eve and around the time of our elections. One cannot imagine an approach more provocative and irresponsible than that of mobilizing military forces during this crucial moment of any nation’s democratic life. There has been involvement by Russia for months: first, billions of dollars in Russian money came into the Georgian election campaign. Lots of other resources were allocated, and now Russian troops are trying to be some kind of background players in this process. That is why I call today on all our allies and friends, and all members of goodwill in the international community, not to ignore or dismiss this worrisome development.”
2012-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 67 (2012)
“I am confident that Georgian democracy will prevail and reject those who seek to close Georgia’s doors. Georgian democracy will prevail if, and only if, Georgian elections remain a Georgian process. Today, in this forum, I am obliged to draw the Assembly’s attention to externally generated security threats to my country. The European Union monitoring mission has just announced that Russian forces are currently undertaking a massive, illegal military buildup, occupying territory inside Georgia, on the former territory of South Ossetia, which is within Georgia’s internationally recognized borders. Even as we speak, they are bringing offensive weapons and troops inside our internationally recognized borders.”
2012-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 67 (2012)
“Georgia is a young democracy, and we know the value that comes from partnerships and engagement with the international community. As in the past, we have once again opened our doors and invited credible international election monitors to visit our country, including the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the European Parliament, the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, the United States Congress and respected international non-governmental organizations. To date, the interim reports of almost every election observation mission have consistently underscored that these are the most competitive elections in Georgia’s history. On 1 October, notwithstanding significant attempts to undermine that dynamic, the Georgian people will make their decision.”
2012-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 67 (2012)
“We have initiated a code of conduct to eradicate political intimidation, the use of administrative resources, vote-buying, campaign- related violence and hate speech in any shape or form, which for so many years was used to promote hatred against ethnic and religious minorities. Regrettably, not all actors in the Georgian political arena share those principles, and some are purposefully working to undermine the legitimacy of Georgia’s democratic institutions — how they are perceived at home and by the international community. Our response to deliberate attempts to short- circuit our democracy is straightforward: democratic, transparent and rule-of-law-based processes will not be compromised. This is not only my demand; it is the demand of the people of Georgia.”
2012-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 67 (2012)
“We live in a world in which yesterday’s accomplishments are never enough, and I have made a commitment to the effect that this year’s vote will be even more free and fair than the previous ones. We have taken numerous steps to pursue that goal. We have increased public funding and given free airtime on all national channels for ads from all political parties, in addition to whatever they can buy with their own money. We have proposed to all national television channels a “must carry/must offer” requirement, to ensure that all private cable networks, large and small, broadcast all news-based television, and they have accepted that proposal. We have welcomed the first televised debate in our country’s history between candidates for Prime Minister and heads of candidate lists.”
2012-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 67 (2012)
“But today I ask for the Assembly’s attention with respect to the events unfolding in Georgia, because I believe that they are part of the broader, global question facing us today: whether the quest for democracy and freedom can and will endure. I came here to say that Georgia will remain an open society. That is the choice of our citizens, and there is no alternative to this. On 1 October, my nation will vote in parliamentary elections. We look forward to that day and to the opportunity to renew and strengthen the fundamental social contract that allows citizens to freely judge and choose their leaders. Georgia has conducted several elections in recent years, all of which were monitored by international observers and all of which were free and fair.”
2012-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 67 (2012)
“That is how my own Government has overcome past errors and challenges to emerge stronger, more effective and ever more committed to building and institutionalizing an open society. It is clear that there are no shortcuts to accountability, and no fast-track lines to freedom. Building and maintaining an open society entails a painful learning process and significant risk-taking. But the conclusion we must draw in this respect, from Georgia to the events in Myanmar, is this: such risks are worth taking. I am speaking to the Assembly on the eve of crucial elections in my country. I realize clearly the magnitude of the challenges that face this body and this troubled world, from the menace of nuclear proliferation to global warming and poverty.”
2012-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 67 (2012)
“An open society is a place where improvements are often reached through noisy, painful and chaotic processes. Montesquieu wrote a long time ago that if everyone agrees with the Government and everyone agrees with one another, that is not a country; that is a cemetery. I speak from personal experience. My own country confronted democracy’s challenges once again this past week when evidence emerged of abuses in our prison system. The facts were sickening, and our responsibility was clear. Our reaction was swift, and we did what democracies must do. We identified those responsible, and they were all arrested. Two Government Ministers have resigned, and we put in charge of the prison system its fiercest critic: the Georgian human rights defender, Georgia’s ombudsman. That is how democracies learn; that is how we improve.”
2012-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 67 (2012)
“I was also struck by the visit last week to the United States by Aung San Suu Kyi, the joyous reception that America gave her, and her desire to come and tell her story with serenity and determination, a story of progress towards freedom in the face of seemingly impossible odds. Twenty months after the act of despair and tragic death of Mohamed Bouazizi, there are many who doubt the cause to which Ambassador Stevens gave his life, who doubt the vision of Aung San Suu Kyi, who doubt freedom. I am totally certain that the skeptics are wrong. A free society has never meant a society without problems. On the contrary, an open society has problems, exposes them, shows them, deals with them and does not neglect them, because it keeps arguments open and gives Government a chance to be accountable.”
2012-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 67 (2012)
“I have come here today to make the case for open societies. After the horrible attack on the United States consulate in Benghazi and the death of Ambassador Chris Stevens, I called the American Ambassador in Georgia to convey my condolences and to speak to him, to share my sorrow and express my support for this unique nation. I was struck by what he told me. I was struck by the fact that American diplomats, beyond their pain and their anger, still believed so clearly that the liberation of Libya was fundamentally a good thing. Just a few days ago, the United States Ambassador in my country was proved right by the demonstrations held by the citizens of Benghazi, who went out to protest against extremist militias and to show their support for the achievement of peace and prosperity in their own country.”
2012-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 67 (2012)
“It is always a great honour for me to address the General Assembly. The Assembly gives us a unique opportunity to debate the key challenges of our world and time, and to identify and confront the problems that our nations are facing. It is a moment of collective ref lection and it should be a moment of truth. Today, 20 months after the act of despair of a young Tunisian citizen that strongly shook the world and generated so many hopes around the globe, many people have doubts. Some are telling us that the images of liberation and joy seen around the world have been replaced by broken promises, despair and chaos, that the world was better off when fewer people were free, and that the international system was more stable when fewer societies were open. I have come here today to make the opposite argument.”
2012-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 67 (2012)
“As national leaders and as key decision-makers, we can contribute and we must contribute. Let us rise to that historical imperative. Let us all make our contribution, so that, together, we may avoid the deepest abyss and strive instead for the highest heaven.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“History will judge our generation by how actively we help to answer this question, particularly in a series of pivotal arenas, in what people call abusively frozen conflicts in and near my own region, in the many countries in the international community that remain under tyranny’s yoke and in the places like those Arab 11-50871 10 States that have achieved a new spring of freedom and are starting the difficult work of reforms. Wael Ghonim, the young Egyptian Google executive who helped connect and mobilize so many of his country’s people to stand up for freedom, recently said that the new revolutions, like the one his country experienced, are a little like Wikipedia: they are grand, open projects to which everyone can contribute. The need for participation applies to us as well.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“The two anniversaries we are marking — the anniversary of the fall of the Soviet empire and the anniversary of 9/11 — continue to confront us with this central question: how can we ensure that the new spaces that have opened in our world in the past 20 years thanks to the fall of dictators and thanks to the spread of new technologies are filled by peace rather than violence, by tolerance rather than extremism and by freedom rather than new forms of enslavement?”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“This is why it is so important to support this call and to deter those who want to suppress it. This is why we supported the NATO-led intervention in Libya at the initiative of the United Kingdom, France and the United States. The very fact that the National Transitional Council is now sitting here, in the Hall, and that Al-Qadhafi can no longer speak from this rostrum should give hope for the future to all of us. The very fact that this effort was approved by the Security Council has shown that that institution can actually be the essential framework for the defence of human rights.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“We are ranked first in Eastern and Central Europe in terms of business, as I said, as one of the easiest places in the world. The 2011 EBRD survey on countries in transition singles out Georgia as the most successful country in our region in terms of institution-building, on par with developed European countries. There is still a lot to be done, obviously. We are more committed than ever to pursuing our path of reforms and to continuing to build our democracy, even as the barrels of hostile tanks point at us just 40 kilometres away from our capital. Of course, the path to efficient democratic Government is difficult, but it is the only path. Of course, people will be impatient and disappointed, but there is no alternative to the success of this call for freedom.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“Thanks to radical changes in our police force, customs, tax service and bureaucratic structures, and thanks to the widespread feeling among people that they own these transformations, we have made greater progress on Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index since 2003 than any other State in the world. We are the second or third least corrupt State in Europe, according to the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) survey. We have built a highly favourable investment climate based on efficiency, transparency and the rule of law. As a result, we are now ranked as one of the easiest places in the world to do business. The World Bank ranked Georgia, based on five years of records, as the world’s number one economic reformer. No other country has progressed in that five-year period as we did.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“Not only because the police were responsible for a large part of our crime rate, but also because there was a shared feeling that our citizens finally had a stake in their country and that they were living actors in a very specific moment of our nation’s history — a moment when everything seemed possible, when values became the basis of politics and when one had the feeling of inventing one’s own future. This feeling is the true engine of history and our best ally against extremists. But it is a fragile feeling that has to be nurtured and sustained. In Georgia, we have managed to keep this feeling alive until now by a permanent process of reform with clear benchmarks.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“The success of those revolutions will depend on what happens after the legions of reporters from CNN, the BBC and Al-Jazeera have left. This is precisely the moment when our Georgian experience — both successes and shortcomings — could prove useful. Of course we hardly succeeded in everything, and we made many mistakes. But we have also had astonishing results. In the aftermath of the Rose Revolution, we fired 100 per cent of our entire police force. Georgia lived for three months without a single policeman. Amazingly, during that period, crime rates went down dramatically. Why?”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“In 2003, a peaceful, popular revolution brought to power a young team of reformists. From one day to the next, we were in charge of a fragile country in a hostile geopolitical environment. We discovered quickly that the slogans, roses, flags and other tools we used as opposition and 9 11-50871 civil society leaders would no longer suffice. We discovered, in fact, that revolutions are not only, and not even mainly, about the crowds gathered in the streets, but that they consist essentially of the long and difficult process of reform that follows the uprising. This is the main challenge that Tunisia, Egypt and Libya now face. The uplifting images of people celebrating liberation in Tahrir Square, or Libyan citizens dancing in Muammar Al-Qadhafi’s palaces, are already in the past.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“Terrorism and extremism can be defeated only if freedom, democracy and prosperity extend their reach in the world. This is why we welcomed so genuinely the efforts of President Obama and President Rousseff in launching the Open Government Partnership. The world has to respond to the universal call for freedom and justice, and only a coordinated response to this call can guarantee our common long-term security. Georgia is ready and willing once again to take on more than its share in this international effort. Our experience of radical post-revolutionary transformation over the past eight years could very well be useful for the newly liberated lands. We were not always free. We were a totally failed State, a dying economy, a country destroyed by corruption and authoritarian structures.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“International police, military and intelligence cooperation in the war against Al-Qaida over the past decade have been, and still are, essential in protecting our freedoms. I am proud that Georgia has borne more than its share in the international effort in Afghanistan. I am proud of our thousands of soldiers who risk everything in order to defeat the international movement of hatred — and I want to pay tribute to those who have died on the battlefield. I am proud of our police who are engaged in the struggle against nuclear trafficking. I am proud that Georgia has become a provider, not just a consumer, of international security. I am proud of all of this, but I am also very aware that extremism will not be defeated and terrorism will not be eradicated by military and police means alone.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“They require from us all the radical astonishment that Aristotle considered as the very beginning of philosophy, the first step towards true wisdom and a radical emancipation from our prejudices and dogmas. Very few predicted the revolutions that swept across Eastern and Central Europe in 1989, or the “coloured” revolutions that followed 15 years later. Even fewer predicted Tunis, Cairo, Benghazi and Tripoli. The popular call for freedom that has shaken the world in 2011 is the best and most definitive answer to the hatred that motivated the attacks against this very city 10 years ago. When aspiring populations are free to live their lives, practice their trades, raise their children, voice their ideas and press their grievances, the space for terrorists to recruit or demagogues to sow ethnic hatred starts to evaporate.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“Indeed, who could have anticipated the global consequences of a desperate act by a 26-year- old Tunisian, Mohamed Bouazizi, in the remote town of Sidi Bouzid? One poor man, in an unknown place, was denied his rights by an imperious police and, like a distant echo of the Czech Jan Palach in front of the Russian tanks in 1968, he immolated himself. This breathtaking act of despair has literally turned the world upside down. Some dictators are jailed or on the run; regimes considered untouchable have collapsed; new constitutions and orders are being born. An entire region and culture derogatorily labelled as unfit for democracy by some people in more developed countries has given the whole world, including the developed world, a lesson in freedom. Such historical eruptions always come as a surprise.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“The end of the Cold War launched an era of opportunity and turbulence, liberating local dynamics in ways both tragic and exultant, and leading to a constant flux in the world order. It has unleashed hatred, ethnic conflict, mass terror, genocide and many other human calamities. But it has also generated fantastic emancipations. Think of the “coloured” revolutions in Eastern Europe, the dazzling development of Asia, the progress of democracy in Africa or, more recently, the Arab Spring; none would have been possible if the Soviet Union still existed as a global player and a global threat to all the continents, including Africa, Asia and Europe alike. Since 1991, history has become more and more unpredictable, swinging violently between the highest heaven and the deepest abyss that Schelling referred to.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“Georgia is responding to these brutal and dangerous policies by opening its borders, inviting people to come to engage in exchange, debate and dialogue, by trying to overcome the information blockades, by trying to rebuild bridges between nations — those essential bridges that others are systematically trying to destroy. Georgia is responding to military build-up with programmes to lift children out of poverty through access to modern technologies — computers, the Internet — and with new hotels and new boulevards and cycling paths. Georgia is responding to methods of the past by embracing the 11-50871 8 promises of the future, and many others as well — new health-care systems, hundreds of new hospitals, advanced programmes to deal with communicable and non-communicable diseases, and insurance for all.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“The Cold War is over, but some leaders have yet to realize that fact and stop reasoning in terms of spheres of influence, near-abroad domination and zero- sum games. The Cold War is over, but embargoes, blackmail and brutal diktats are still used against Ukraine, Moldova and Belarus. The Cold War is over, but even the Baltic States have to deal with manipulation of their democratic political landscape and neo-colonial games with their minorities. The Cold War is over, but the old Soviet habit of playing on ethnic and religious hatreds is still alive. That is especially true in the black hole that the North Caucasus has become, with brutal violence, displacement and the killing of hundreds of thousands of inhabitants.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“Even though the United Nations Charter gives us the authority to do so, as we well know, we definitively renounced military means to restore our territorial integrity. The commitment I made before the European Parliament is legally binding; I have sent relevant letters to the Secretary- General of the United Nations and to other international organizations. It will soon be one year since Georgia renounced the use of force. One year has passed, and we are still waiting for Russia’s leadership to reciprocate this gesture of peace. Unfortunately, instead of dialogue, the response we have received has come in the form of a dozen terrorist acts targeting Georgia, attacks directly organized and supervised by confirmed officers of the Russian secret services, which has been authenticated by different international actors.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“As I speak, the Russian Federation militarily occupies 20 per cent of sovereign Georgian territory, in violation of international law and the 12 August 2008 ceasefire agreement. As I speak, almost 500,000 internally displaced persons and refugees in a country of less than 5 million people continue to suffer because they are denied their right, a right reaffirmed over a dozen times by this very body, to return to their homes and villages. They cannot go back because, in Moscow, a foreign leader has decided that their home is no longer their home. To such cynicism and brutality we respond with calls for justice and commitments to peace. Last year, on 23 November, I addressed the European Parliament and solemnly pledged that Georgia would never use force to liberate those of its regions currently occupied by the Russian Federation.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“I am convinced that there will be less and less tolerance for the ethnic cleansing and other war crimes that have stained my country and so many others. That is the very reason for the existence as the United Nations, is it not? The United Nations exists to make the world a little better, to finally enforce the rules, charters, laws and principles upon which we have all come to agree. It is time to understand that the world has changed and that an army, as powerful as it might seem, cannot ultimately deny the will of the people; that a Government, as strong as it might look, cannot unilaterally and freely dismember sovereign nations; and that we are not in 1938 or in 1968, but in 2011.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“There are, in other words, men who embrace freedom and men who erect mental and physical walls against it. To the latter, who still see the extension of the European Union and NATO as a threat, I would like to say that the Cold War ended in December 1991 and that they should not be afraid of having democratic neighbours who wish to join wider democratic clubs. There is no hidden agenda or secret plot in any of those capitals to undermine the sovereignty of big nations. The Cold War ended 20 years ago and, slowly — too slowly — new rules are emerging. And even those rules are still too rarely applied. Little by little, tyrants are beginning to fear that they could one day be held accountable for their crimes.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“Communism had frozen our will in a cold and closed museum. When it collapsed, the doors of history swung open again. We found ourselves confronted at once by both the best and the worst. The best transpired for those nations quickly integrated into the European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. The others — like the people of my country, Georgia — 7 11-50871 were left to the mercy of failed States, civil unrest, wars, ethnic cleansing and foreign occupation. Two years ago, from this very podium, I suggested that there were two ways to leave communism behind and to re-enter history — the way of Vaclav Havel and the way of Slobodan Miloševic, the way of liberal democracy and tolerance, on one side, and the way of authoritarianism and ethnic nationalism, on the other.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“Ten years later, the remarkable upheavals in the Arab world have offered us yet more proof that there is no end to history, nor is there a clash of civilizations. Instead, a universal call to freedom is rising even in places where some doubted it could ever rise. It is being met by a monstrous effort to quell it. As we speak, the highest heaven and the deepest abyss are once again in conflict. It is our duty as leaders to weigh in and speak out, to decide and to act. The first anniversary I evoked earlier — the fall of Soviet tyranny — continues to reverberate today in important ways. When the moment came 20 years ago for us, the former subjects of the Soviet bureaucracy — students, artists, dissidents, workers, men and women, old and young — it was hardly the end of history; on the contrary, it was a new beginning of history.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“On that terrible day, even those who had failed to pay heed to a decade of grim wars in the Balkans and the Caucasus, in Africa and in Afghanistan, had to abandon their illusions that a new world order free of conflicts had emerged for good. The attacks on New York and Washington, D.C., were not aimed at a single country, but instead targeted a set of values and a way of life — freedom and democracy. That day, 11 September 2001, reminded us that the world remained a true battlefield — a battlefield not among religions, as many people claim, or of nations, but a battlefield within every religion, every nation and every culture; a battlefield between those who try to build and those who seek to destroy, between those who choose freedom and those who pledge to eradicate it; a battlefield between nihilism and the very idea of civilization.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“I am surprised that no one in the Hall has mentioned that this year marks the twentieth anniversary of the collapse of the Soviet Union, which freed captive nations and emancipated oppressed peoples, unleashed the dreams of millions, put an end to decades of cold war and an apocalyptic nuclear race and heralded a new era of international relations. It was clearly not, as one nostalgic leader put it, the biggest geopolitical catastrophe of the twentieth century. Nor was it, as some analysts and diplomats dreamed, the end of history. Ten years later, in this very city, another major event took place, this time a real catastrophe. It reminded us in the most horrific way that history was not over and that it remained tragic.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“It is of course a great honour and a profound responsibility to address the sixty-sixth session of the General Assembly on behalf of my people. The United Nations is the international community’s great legacy of the past century, an institution resulting both from history’s most outrageous crimes and from humankind’s capacity to confront, reckon with and overcome the consequences of such crimes. Such human contradictions — “the highest heaven and the deepest abyss”, to quote Friedrich Schelling — are symbolized by the two remarkable anniversaries we commemorate this year.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“In 2008, thousands and thousands of tanks, armoured vehicles, artillery platforms, troops and militias crossed the Caucasian mountains, bringing destruction, death and hatred. Now it is time for ideas — the ideas of freedom and unity that we all cherish — to cross the same mountains, bringing hope, life and even love. As I speak, thousands of tanks, armoured vehicles and missile platforms are entrenched or moving all across the Caucasus. If we remain on our own, isolated from each other, they surely will prevail. But if everybody holds his neighbour’s hand, if tens of millions of unarmed people peacefully stand together, shoulder to shoulder, being the continuation of each other, just like the Caucasian mountains, then no brutal force will ever break through this chain of awakened human spirits and this irresistible thirst for freedom.”
2010-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 65 (2010)
“Recently, a foreign diplomat told me that after crossing our only legal crossing point with Russia he encountered dozens of roadblocks where dangerous- looking, unshaven local militiamen and FSB agents kept blocking the passage from one valley to another, from one village to another, aggressively preventing individuals from circulating in their own country. There is also talk about the eventuality of, and preparation for, a new war with Georgia. It is time to replace those people, barbed wire and roadblocks by open borders and passport-free customs, to replace camps for internally displaced persons by joint schools and universities, to replace the Kalashnikov by computers, and to replace missiles by books or television sets.”
2010-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 65 (2010)
“It is time to stop being prisoners of the past and to move towards our common future. In the past, Georgian citizens perceived our border with the Ottoman Empire as an absolute threat. Today, we have passport-free customs; we can enter each other’s country without passports and visas. We have a joint airport and free trade with Turkey, and very friendly relations. Tomorrow, the citizens of Armenia and Azerbaijan will be able to cross our borders without passports. Even today there is a very simplified procedure; they do not even have to leave their cars.”
2010-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 65 (2010)
“We — Caucasian people — all made the same mistake through history. It is time to change. It is time to stick together, to help each other to survive and progress. It is time to understand that our region has sufficient resources and potential for all of us. It is time to rely on ourselves, on the human potential of our citizens, on development of our own education system, and time to organize our own development. The Caucasus is one of the birthplaces of world civilization. It is time to show that the energy of our ancestors does not belong only to an iconic past, and that we have something to give to our children and to the world. It is time to stop fighting and weakening each other and to realize that our strength consists in unity. It is time for unity and peace.”
2010-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 65 (2010)
“Once again, we will not aspire to change any borders. That needs to be emphasized. We may belong to different States and ethnic groups, and live on different sides of the mountains, but in terms of human and cultural space there is no North and South Caucasus; there is only one Caucasus, which belongs to world civilization and Europe and will one day join the big European family of free nations, following the Georgian path. We, the Caucasians, driven by legitimate or imaginary threats of assimilation or attacks from other Powers, or from each other, hoped too often to be 10-54833 6 protected by neighbouring empires. This anxious search for foreign shelter led us to subjugation, assimilation, annexation and historical tragedy. It authorized foreign leaders to artificially emphasize and manipulate our divisions.”
2010-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 65 (2010)
“As happened a long time ago with the European Union — that amazing geopolitical revolution we aspire to join one day — the historic move towards Caucasian unity will start with concrete projects, in the energy sector, in the education and the cultural fields and in the civil society sphere. We should begin with more people-to-people exchanges. It is time we got to know each other and forged links that will bring us together without changing existing inter-State borders. My birth town and our capital, Tbilisi, is inhabited by Caucasians of every religion and every ethnicity. Together they form a living example of tolerance and cooperation. So it is possible. We leaders have to learn from this cohabitation of peoples and translate it into geopolitics. Our unity would not be directed against anyone.”
2010-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 65 (2010)
“History has taught us that regions that were torn apart by armed conflicts and contaminated by hate — starting with Europe — can achieve lasting peace through cooperation, interdependence and unity. History has taught us that dreams are often more realistic than resignation. I strongly believe that a common market, shared interests and political and economic interdependence will one day give birth to a united Caucasus. That is what I call for today. We share a similar history of oppression, but we have also in common a deep, essential and undefeated aspiration for freedom. Let us capitalize on this aspiration. Our region will never be truly free if it is not united. It will of course require a long and difficult series of efforts and gestures, from all of us, but the objective is worth every sacrifice.”
2010-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 65 (2010)
“We Georgians have learned tragically how a so-called frozen conflict can very quickly become a hot one. If there is clear support from the international community, I am convinced that a lasting peace can be secured in the Caucasus. I am convinced that if the world shows the same commitment to a peaceful resolution of conflicts in my region as in other parts of the world we can accomplish wonders. It is in everybody’s interest to see this strategic region, this crossroads of civilizations, become more stable, prosperous and open. History has taught us that wars can erupt quickly — but also that brave leaders can secure peace where nobody would ever believe that conflicts could be resolved.”
2010-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 65 (2010)
“Because by looking over the best pupil’s shoulder one might not get the full picture of what modernization means. The complete picture is rather simple: lasting stability and prosperity cannot be achieved without respecting some basic principles. Modernization without freedom is not sustainable. One cannot hope to diversify and develop one’s economy when one sends one’s most talented and successful businessmen to the Gulag, as happened to Mikhail Khodorkovsky. Computers are not enough without free minds to use them. So let us free our minds from our common Soviet past in order to build a common future. My third and final call is to every member of the international community: help us to secure peace — in Georgia, but also in our broader region.”
2010-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 65 (2010)
“And I want to tell the Russian leaders that they should care more about their citizens and less about our diplomatic orientation, more about developing the Northern Caucasus — a region that is exploding as I speak — than about undermining our development. They are welcome to come too if they want, in order to understand how a post-Soviet society can turn into a European one. We invite them to come, with notebooks rather than with missiles, with iPads rather than Kalashnikovs. I was pleased to note that some of our reforms inspired a few recent presidential speeches in Moscow. Instead of fighting each other, we should excel together in modernizing our common region. And instead of secretly copying or envying our reforms, they should cooperate with us in building a stable and free region, building stable and free countries.”
2010-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 65 (2010)