Georgia marks 29th anniversary of historic referendum on independence
President Salome Zurabishvili stated that despite the coronavirus pandemic, “we do not have the right to forget” the date, which has led to the restoration of “independent statehood”. Photo: Nino Alavidze/Agenda.ge
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Today Georgia marks the 29th anniversary of the referendum that led to the country gaining independence from the Soviet Union.
President Salome Zurabishvili wrote on her official Facebook page that despite the coronavirus pandemic, “we do not have the right to forget” the date, which has led to the restoration of “independent statehood”.
Let the Georgian people remember the power of unity, which will help us overcome the hardship”, she stated.
Salome Zurabishvili also paid tribute to the first president of Georgia Zviad Gamsakhurdia, who would have turned 81 today.
Zviad Gamsakhurdia, with his son Giorgi Gamsakhurdia attended opening of the first session of the Supreme Council, 1990. Photo from the National Parliamentary Library of Georgia/Owner: Central Library of Zugdidi
During Gamsakhurdia's presidency on March 31, 1991 the vast majority of Georgian people across the country, including now occupied regions of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali (South Ossetia), legally confirmed their support for the restoration of independence from Russia that was first declared on May 26, 1918.
However, this was short-lived independence as the country was re-invaded by Russia’s Bolshevik Army and absorbed into the Soviet Union in 1921. Seventy years later, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Georgia once again became independent on May 26, 1991.
Georgia’s first president Zviad Gamsakhurdia would have turned 80 today. Prime Minister Mamuka Bakhtadze, Parliament Speaker Irakli Kobakhidze and other officials went to the Mtatsminda Pantheon in Tbilisi to pay tribute to the former president.
Today Georgians mark Independence Day, commemorating May 26, 1918 – the day when the Act of Independence was adopted, establishing the First Democratic Republic of Georgia. 463 recruits have taken their oaths today in Tbilisi, Zugdidi, Racha, Kartli and Dusheti.
The main symbol of Brussels, the Manneken Pis, was dressed in Georgian chokha [Georgian national clothes for men] on May 26, on Georgia’s Independence Day. During an event in Brussels Georgian Ambassador to the EU Natalie Sabanadze addressed public.
On this day 27 years ago a referendum was held in Georgia that led to the country gaining independence from the Soviet Union. Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili said March 31, 1991 has been decisive for Georgia's new history.
Today Georgians mark Independence Day, commemorating May 26, 1918 – the day when the Act of Independence was adopted and which established the First Democratic Republic of Georgia.Due to the coronavirus pandemic, no large-scale events will take place around the country, with Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia marking the date with the country’s armed forces, on the base of the fourth mechanised brigade.
The US State Secretary Mike Pompeo has congratulated Georgia on its Independence Day, stating that the US and Georgia have a strong strategic partnership built upon shared values and a deep love of freedom, independence, and unity.
Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia and President Salome Zurabishvili have congratulated Georgian citizens, emigrants and people living in the country’s two Russian-occupied regions of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali on Independence Day.
Today Georgia marks the 30th anniversary of the referendum that led to the country gaining independence from the Soviet Union.
The March 31, 1991 referendum laid a “solid foundation” for building a modern Georgian state, making an “irreversible move” towards the goal for which many generations of Georgians have struggled and worked, Prime Minister of Georgia Irakli Garibashvili said today while marking the 31st anniversary of the 1991 independence referendum.