2020-12-21
"It is truly commendable how Georgian diplomacy lent a helping hand to Georgian citizens by enabling us, a small country with limited economic resources, to return them to Georgia, Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia stated in his online speech during today's annual meeting of the heads of Georgian diplomatic missions abroad, Ambassadors Conference 2020-Priorities of Georgia's Foreign Policy through the Pandemic, New Challenges and Opportunities.
The Head of Government thanked the diplomats for their efforts in the fight against the pandemic in 2020.
"Firstly, I would like to express my sincere gratitude for our diplomatic corps' work throughout 2020, in the process of fighting against the pandemic, to protect the rights and health of our citizens, above all else-our citizens who, for different reasons, happened to be in your host countries, some working or seeking medical services, and others studying. It is truly commendable how Georgian diplomacy lent a helping hand to Georgian citizens by enabling us, a small country with limited economic resources, to return them to Georgia. Trust me, this has been duly appreciated by every Georgian," Giorgi Gakharia said.
The Head of Government emphasized occupation and territorial integrity as the country's major challenges and thanked Georgian diplomats for their efforts in this regard.
"I would like to thank you for keeping Georgia's vitally important issues of occupation and territorial integrity high on the agenda in the world's capitals, despite these totally unusual social and political circumstances posing challenges to human behavior as a whole, not only to diplomacy. We must understand that these are our country's major challenges, and the country's territorial integrity will remain our top priority in the future, in any circumstances where we may find ourselves living, working, pursuing politics. We must do everything not to let anyone in our challenging world to forget Georgia's number one challenge: occupation and territorial integrity," the Prime Minister stated.
Giorgi Gakharia also thanked Georgia's ambassadors abroad for contributing to Gocha Lortkipanidze's election as Judge of the Hague International Criminal Court.
"I am thankful to you for the recent elections which, for the first time in Georgian history, resulted in Gocha Lortkipanidze's election as Judge of the Hague International Criminal Court. I fully appreciate your personal contributions to this success, for which I am thankful to you," Giorgi Gakharia said.
According to the Prime Minister, effective and pragmatic diplomacy must be the task number one in 2021, as the only way to turn the pandemic from a challenge into an opportunity for the country.
"This is our key task, and this is an opportunity for all small countries. We must understand that the way we deal with the pandemic-in terms of healthcare, epidemiological, economic, political, or social life, and I must also recall the elections we held-is the starting point giving Georgia a competitive head start, however small, in the global post-pandemic competition that is about to unfold before our eyes. As you know, a vaccine will become available, and the global competition will be nothing like before, much like the world will never be the same, so will be the competition, and it is our task to win a small head start for our country in the global post-pandemic competition, to enabling it to have better results," Giorgi Gakharia said.
The Head of Government also singled out EU integration as Georgia's historic goal and emphasized that the goal of this year and the whole 4-year electoral cycle is to prepare the country for its historical goal, historical dream, of applying for full EU membership.
"Though an ambitious plan, given what the country has achieved in the past few years, this is the step each of our citizens expects, the goal toward which we all must work daily, which is why your 2021 action plan will include further deepening the country's European and Euro-Atlantic integration as the top priority. Aligning Georgia with Europe in every dimension, including physical, is our key goal. We must align standards in every direction: economy, business, culture, and education, and we must do everything to make sure that, four years from now, the country is fully prepared-this is our goal," the Prime Minister stated.
The Head of Government also underlined cooperation with NATO and the subsequent tangible progress in the area of defense.
"The NATO direction is, of course, of crucial importance. In terms of defense in general, we have had clear progress over the past few years, as recognized by both our international partners and, importantly, by the Georgian defense forces. They just see past few years' progress of the Georgian army, and this is our priority direction," Giorgi Gakharia said.
The Prime Minister, in his speech, also emphasized the importance of economic diplomacy as assistance vital for the country, something Georgia's diplomatic corps must secure in the process of post-pandemic economic recovery.
"It will be of paramount importance. It is not just tourism or FDIs into the country. The global competition will be different; the global economy will be different, and we all must be able to see opportunity for the country in the most unlikely areas or capitals, and that will be of decisive importance," Giorgi Gakharia stated.
According to the Head of Government, the regional developments and shifts witnessed recently by all, and the fact that Georgia has managed to maintain neutrality in this most difficult situation, will have a lasting impact in the future.
The Prime Minister thanked Georgian diplomats for their work in this direction.
"Once again, we must thank our diplomacy, of course. Amid these most difficult processes, Georgia has succeeded in maintaining neutrality because, as you know, good neighborly relations in the South Caucasus are our country's top priority as they are vital not only for the security of the Georgian state, but also for the country's economic development. We must embrace the importance of neutrality to our country," Giorgi Gakharia said.
The Prime Minister, in his speech at the Ambassadors Conference, also commented on the country's ongoing political processes.
According to the Head of Government, the ruling force and the authorities have done everything in the course of the past year to secure greater pluralism in the country's political processes, to make sure that more voices are represented in the Parliament of Georgia, and to enable new healthy political forces to emerge.
"That was the goal of the electoral reform directly stipulating that proportional representation in parliamentary democracy stands for a healthier political culture and political playing field. It also stands for easing entry into the political arena for younger political forces. Unfortunately, we have slightly different results today, though. We must realize that democratization is a difficult process. The goal and general line were correct, of course, but apparently, we will have to work harder. And that goal was served by the step which no political force in the past 30 has been able to take until Georgian Dream agreed to a full proportional election system. For Georgian democracy, the adopted electoral amendments, and the elections we recently had, are a success in terms of long- or even medium-term prospects. I emphasize that, despite the pandemic, about 2 million citizens exhibited civic responsibility by voting. Consequently, we have a parliament with 9 political forces for the first time in the country's history, a parliament largely elected through a proportional system," the Prime Minister stated.
According to Giorgi Gakharia, this progress in the democratic process is jeopardized by the ongoing polarization.
"Of course, we must do everything to build on this achievement, because the present level of polarization unfortunately poses risks to this success. This is the key challenge we must rise to," Giorgi Gakharia emphasized.
The Prime Minister thanked international partners/facilitating ambassadors for their contributions to the process of dialogue.
"We are grateful to our international partners directly engaged as facilitators in the process of solving this polarization problem. Naturally, with the Ambassadors of the US and the EU, our strategic partners, directly involved in this process, our citizens clearly see the importance of Georgia's democratization to our strategic partners, as well as the top-level support enjoyed by the country from its strategic partners. It once again testifies to our achievements through your merits in the past few years. Of course, Georgia's support in the US and the EU is higher than in years, and we must do everything to keep this support," the Head of Government underlined.
The annual meeting of Georgia's diplomatic corps abroad, bringing together the heads of Georgia's diplomatic missions abroad and the Foreign Ministry's structural units, is held online from December 21 through December 23. The conference was opened by Georgian Foreign Minister David Zalkaliani. The event's participants were addressed by Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili and Parliament Speaker Archil Talakvadze.
During the three-day conference, its participants will summarize foreign policy activities in 2020 and discuss the 2021 action plan.
Press Service of the Government Administration