Tbilisi, Georgia, Nov.17
By Nana Kirtzkhalia - Trend:
Georgia will not change its foreign policy and will remain oriented towards integration to the European Union and NATO, Giorgi Margvelashvili, who took the office of Georgian president said in his presidential speech.
He stressed that Georgia has made a great progress in the international arena and the country will initial an Association Agreement with the EU on Nov.27 and this will be the precondition for Georgia's development and its integration to the EU and NATO.
"Georgia significantly contributes to the global process of fighting against terrorism and ensuring global security. We will continue this in the future. We get loses for these ideals and I want to pay tribute to all our fallen soldiers - heroes," he said.
The new Georgian president spoke on continuing and deepening of cooperation with the U.S.
"In this regard we want to initiate negotiations on free trade," he said.
Margvelashvili said that Georgia should become a bridge between Europe and Asia.
"Therefore, we will cooperate with Black Sea and Caspian Sea countries. With its balanced policy Georgia has already managed to establish partner relations with the region's countries - Armenia, Azerbaijan and Turkey," he said.
The president stressed that Georgia is ready to continue the dialogue with Russia despite of the current problems.
"We are ready to hold an equal dialogue with Russia on establishment of our bilateral relations taking into account Georgia's territorial integrity," he said.
Margvelashvili also promised to continue the close cooperation with UN, OSCE and other international institutions.
"After difficult years there has come time to return our territories. We have a capital in the form of talent and love of our nation that will allow us to make improvement. I believe that the golden era will come," he said.
With regard to the settlement of domestic problems, Margvelashvili stated that he intends to ensure the victory of democracy and consolidation of the nation.
"We managed to create a precedent of free transfer of power from one president to the second. I would like to emphasize the role of Ivanishvili who united the opposition a year ago and brought the forces that are based on democracy to the country's power. And the peak of this work was the holding of European elections on Oct.27. I won, but as a president I will be a president and a guarantor of all our fellow citizens. The strengthening of democratic institutions, ensuring the nation's participation in the country's governing, the democratic and economic development are the cornerstones of the country's development, Margvelashvili said.
He called on Abkhazians and Ossetians to build a unified state in which all rights of ethnic groups and tolerance will be protected.
As a supreme commander Margvelashvili intends to strengthen the army so that the country would be ready to respond to aggression. Meanwhile,Georgia will hold peaceful negotiations on the settlement of all existing problems.
"As a president, I will be a guarantor of protection of the agreement with the Orthodox Church and will protect the interests of all confessions in the country," he said.
After speaking at the inauguration, Margvelashvili laid a wreath at the memorial to those who died for the country's territorial integrity.