Twelve years have passed since then-Prime Minister of Georgia Zurab Zhvania, one of the leaders of the Rose Revolution, was founded deceased in a rented apartment in Tbilisi.
Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili took to Facebook to remember the tragic date and honour the memory of the late PM.
Kvirikashvili noted Zhvania’s historic speech at the European Council on January 17, 1999, when he said, "I am Georgian, and therefore I am European”.
"These words by Zhvania are gaining even more importance today as our country continues to be successful in the process of Euro-integration”, Kvirikashvili wrote on Facebook last evening.
"Twelve years have passed since his death… I pay tribute to him”.
With 553 votes in favour, 66 against and 28 abstaining, the European Parliament (EP) approved visa-free travel for Georgian citizens to most countries of the European Union at a plenary session on February 2.
Zhvania was found dead in a rented flat in Tbilisi on February 3, 2005. The official cause of death was carbon monoxide poisoning from a poorly ventilated gas heater. However, questions still surround the case. A re-investigation of the PM’s death was launched under the new Government of Georgia and is still ongoing.