Georgia marks 30th anniversary of historic referendum on independence from Soviet Union
The vast majority of Georgians voted for the country’s independence from Soviet Union in the 1991 referendum. Photo: National Archive of Georgia.
Tweet 
Share
Today Georgia marks the 30th anniversary of the referendum that led to the country gaining independence from the Soviet Union.
During Zviad Gamsakhurdia's presidency on March 31, 1991 the vast majority of Georgian people across the country, including currently occupied regions of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali (South Ossetia), legally confirmed their support for the restoration of independence from the Soviet Union that was first declared on May 26, 1918.
Georgian Parliament Speaker Archil Talakvadze has tweeted:
This day was full of courage and inspiration - 30 years ago, on March 31, Georgian people expressed their free will to national independence in a referendum that led to the declaration of independence on the 9th of April, 1991. pic.twitter.com/2EHb7OrOl2
— Archil Talakvadze (@A_Talakvadze) March 31, 2021
However, this was a 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.
Georgian Foreign Minister David Zalkaliani has tweeted:
March 31 is a date of paramount importance in ????????'s modern history, as exactly 30 yrs ago, through t/ referendum #Georgian people voted 4 t/independence & freedom of their homeland. They chose t/path, leading 2 Europe & development. This day marks t/inception of new, liberated ????????.
— David Zalkaliani (@DZalkaliani) March 31, 2021
3,326,100 individuals of 3,672,403 registered voters participated in the referendum.
3,295,493 voters, which is 99,08 per cent, voted for Georgia’s independence.
The 37th president of the US, 78-year-old Richard Nixon was present in Tbilisi on the referendum day who was cited as saying by former Georgian officials that ‘If I were Georgian I would be happy to vote for the country’s independence.’
US President Nixon in Tbilisi during the referendum. Photo: National Archive of Georgia.
Today also marks the birthday of the first President of Georgia Zviad Gamsakhurdia who would have turned 82.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili has stated that ‘March 31 is the historic day for Georgia’ and said that the merit of Gamsakhurdia for the country’s independence is ‘huge.’