May 26, Georgia celebrated Independence Day and the centennial anniversary of the First Democratic Republic of Georgia founded in 1918.
Georgian government leaders including President, Prime Minister, Speaker of the Parliament and other distinguished officials attended the grand celebratory ceremony in the central Tbilisi.
The celebratory ceremony featured military parade by small military contingents of Georgia and its partner countries. The celebration highlighted oath-taking of 489 newly enlisted soldiers in Georgian Army. In his address, Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili congratulated the recruits and wished them to soon see their country reunited.
In his address, Prime Minister thanked Georgia’s major strategic partner — the United States for its unwavering support: “Today, when two regions of Georgia are occupied, support from our friend and partner countries has great significance and I want to express my gratitude to all of them for help. This gratitude especially goes to our major strategic partner the US, the scale of cooperation with whom is becoming unprecedented. We all together, through the way of peace and reconciliation, restoring the confidence of our Ossetian and Abkhazian brothers will reach our coveted goal to live with them in a united Georgia,” Prime Minister Kvirikashvili added.
President Giorgi Margvelashvili also addressed the crowd, emphasizing the importance of the day of independence: “I congratulate every citizen of Georgia on this important day. From now on, we will move to the new hundred years and will pass it with the same principles and values.”
The Georgian delegation was joined by multiple foreign leaders including, President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker, President of Armenia Armen Sarkissian, President of Slovakia Andrej Kiska, President of Lithuania Dalia Grybauskaite, President of Finland Sauli Niinisto, and President of Poland Andrzej Duda.
“I think of the fierce fighting and the long resistance to Soviet occupation and the efforts to strengthen your democracy. This is the way you have honoured the spirit of 1918, this is what defines you as a country. And it is what makes our association and partnership such a natural one,”said European CommissionPresident Jean-Claude Juncker in his address.
In addition to the grand ceremony in central Tbilisi, the celebration of the Independence of Georgia comprised various activities across the country.