Georgian and foreign leaders commemorate Russia-Georgia war, discuss fatal consequences
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Top Georgian officials, the foreign ministers of Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and the Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine have commemorated the Russia-Georgia 2008 war on its 10th anniversary and spoke about the fatal consequences of the short but violent war.
Russia executed yet another aggression towards Georgia 10 years ago. It was aggression towards the Georgian state. Our citizens were killed and I wish to express condolences to every family that lost their children, mothers, fathers, brothers, next to kin or friends,” Prime Minister Mamuka Bakhtadze stated when he visited the Mukhatgverdi cemetery today in Tbilisi, where Georgian war heroes are buried.
Paid homage to the fallen heroes of #AugustWar. Building a strong European state w/ empowered society & sustainable economy is our response to aggression&occupation of Georgian territories. @GovernmentGeo is fully committed to peaceful conflict resolution. pic.twitter.com/A2IVpfHOfj
— Mamuka Bakhtadze (@BakhtadzeMamuka) August 7, 2018
Unfortunately, 20 percent of Georgian territory is still occupied and our citizens have no possibility to go back to their original dwellings. Building a strong state, irrevocable integration with Europe, establishment of a strong society and competitive economy is our clear response to this,” the PM said.
Bakhtadze expressed his gratitude to all friendly nations for their support and assistance.
Similar to 10 years ago, they remain by our side. They were supporting us in the recent history of the country and the Georgian people will never forget it,” Bakhtadze said.
Georgian PM thanked friendly nations for their support during and after the war. Photo: Prime Minister's press office.
At the roundtable in the afternoon discussing the war and its consequences with the foreign guests, Bakhtadze stated that Georgia’s goal is peaceful resolution of conflict.
President Giorgi Margvelashvili stated that Georgia’s response to Russia’s continued aggression is that "Georgia will not stop on its path of development”.
Georgia will not stop on its path to the EU and NATO,” Margvelashvili said.
Lithuania, Latvia, Poland and Ukraine elaborated a joint communiqué on the day, condemning Russia’s actions and Georgia and calling on Russia to withdraw its forces from the Georgian territory.
Joint Communique by #Lithuania, #Latvia, #Poland and #Ukraine commemorating the decade since the Russian aggression against #Georgia . pic.twitter.com/yeJkeUyOzK
— Lithuania MFA (@LithuaniaMFA) August 7, 2018
Linas Linkevicius, Foreign Minister of Lithuania stated that what happened in Georgia in 2008 was alarming. However, Georgia was the first country facing such trouble and many were unable to evaluate the situation and its consequences appropriately.
Linkevicius, advised Georgia to develop in such a way as to become very attractive for the people living in Georgia’s occupied Abkhazia and Tskhinvali regions.
Several high-ranking guests from Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Ukraine will arrive in Georgia today to participate in events dedicated to the 10th anniversary of the 2008 Russia-Georgia war. Foreign Ministers of Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, vice prime ministers of Ukraine and Estonia will visit Khurvaleti village tomorrow, at the occupation line between Georgia and its occupied Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) region.
"Lithuania stands by Georgia”, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Linas Linkevicius said in Georgian in his video address released today that was devoted to 10 years since the Georgian-Russian war.
High ranking guests from Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Ukraine will visit Georgia on August 6-7 to mark the upcoming 10th anniversary of the Russia-Georgia 2008 war.
The US Embassy to Georgia has released a statement over the upcoming 10th anniversary of the Russia-Georgia 2008 war.
The US Embassy to Georgia says in its statement on the 10th anniversary of the Russia-Georgia war that Georgians displaced by the war have never been able to return to their homes, and residents of the occupied territories have been cut off from the country’s remarkable economic and political progress of the past decade.
Georgian Public Defender Nino Lomjaria say that based on Russian and breakaway Abkhaz sources around 15,000 Georgians have been illegally detained by Russia-controlled so-called border guards for ‘illegally crossing the border’ between 2009 and 2017.
The Foreign Ministries of Germany, Japan and Denmark joined the world countries which have commemorated the Russia-Georgia 2008 war and condemned Russia’s illegal actions on historic Georgian lands.The German Foreign Ministry reports that the Federal Republic of Germany supports Georgia’s national sovereignty and territorial integrity within its internationally recognised borders.
A UK citizen and former employee of the Russian media outlet Russia Today broke into the Georgian Embassy to UK yesterday, during the exhibition of Georgian painter Gia Bugadze, dedicated to the 10th anniversary of the Russia-Georgia war.
The weak response to Russian military aggression against Georgia in 2008 paved the way for the annexation of Crimea, UK Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said yesterday while speaking at the US Institute of Peace.
Georgian Prime Minister Mamuka Bakhtadze has stated that Russian propaganda and the information war is not a challenge only for Georgia, but also for European countries.
Georgian Prime Minister Mamuka Bakhtadze will leave for US on September 16 as he announced today.
US Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Wess Mitchell stated in Tbilisi today that western countries have only recently ‘woken up’ and realised that Russia is a threat. He said the west could not see the threat from Russia even after the Russia-Georgia 2008 war.