The Georgian Vice Prime Minister, Foreign Minister Mikheil Janelidze , President of the Chamber of Representatives Siegfried Bracke, Deputy Secretary General of NATO Rose Gottemoeller, Commissioner for Education, Culture, Youth and Sport at the European Commission, Tibor Navracsics spoke before the attending audience. Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Georgia to Belgium and Georgia’s Permanent Representative to the European Union, Natali Sabanadze spoke before the attending audience.
The Vice Prime Minister spoke about Georgia as a country at the leading edge of Euroepan values and progress.
“Georgian people have never given up the idea of freedom and Europe. In the course of our history we have often been at the crossroads of the East and the West and our vector has always been towards the west. Never before has Georgia been as close to the west as it is now. And this is refleted in our irreversible process of integration with the European and Euro-Atlantic institutions: European Union and NATO. We are proud to represent an associated country of the EU on its path towards NATO and we are determined to continue our pursuit in order to carve out our own place in the common European and Euro-Atlantic space. Despite Russian military aggression directed against our European future, we chose peaceful and democratic ways of fight. Democracy is what helps us stand firm against the Russian aggression. After a lapse of 100 years, Georgia is still in the lead in terms of its democracy and human rights protection. Let’s build united Europe together with Georgia!” – Mikheil Janelidze said
Deputy Secretary General of NATO Rose Gottemoeller congratulated the Georgian people on the 100th anniversary of the first Democratic Republic of Georgia emphasizing that the contribution of Georgia as a loyal partner and ally of the Alliance towards ensuring global and regional security cannot be overestimated. “Georgia’s reforms and NATO integration process are impressive. The Alliance declared 10 years ago that Georgia will become a member of NATO” – he said.
According to Commissioner for Education, Culture, Youth and Sport at the European Commission, Tibor Navracsics, Georgia is a country of outstanding artists, poets and writers and he is proud that Georgia is a key partner of the European Union and co-operates with the EU in the areas of culture, education, sport and youth affairs.
The event also involved a cultural portion during which Georgian pianist Eliso Bolkvadze and national ballet Sukhishvili performed for representatives of the Belgian government, the EU and the European Parliament as well as diplomats.
