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.
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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.’
Today Georgia marks the 29th anniversary of the referendum that led to the country gaining independence from the Soviet Union. 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”.
Countries from around the world congratulate Georgia on Independence Day. Different sights throughout the world were illuminated in white and red, the colors of the national flag of Georgia. The flag of Georgia was unfurled in the centre of Vilnius.
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.
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 celebration of Independence Day of Georgia will see the central Freedom Square in the Georgian capital city of Tbilisi closed for six days, announces Tbilisi City Hall.
The remains of Georgia's national hero and commander-in-chief of the first Democratic Republic of Georgia, General Giorgi Kvinitadze, have been returned home from France. His remains will be laid to rest at the Mtatsminda Pantheon of Writers and Public Figures in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi on Independence Day on May 26.
Today Georgia marks 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, fewer ceremonies will be held on the day, unlike earlier years when multiple events would be held both in Tbilisi and in the regions.Various armored vehicles are present in central Tbilisi for the day. The presentation will be closed by the flight of Su-25 fighter jets.
Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the US State Secretary Antony Blinken have congratulated Georgia on Independence Day.
From the Georgian capital city of Tbilisi to the highland Georgian town of Mestia, the country is celebrating Independence Day today, commemorating May 26, 1918 – the day when the Act of Independence was adopted, establishing the First Democratic Republic of Georgia. The main location of the ceremony was Freedom Square in central Tbilisi. However, the ceremony also took place in Svaneti, Adjara, Samtskhe-Javakheti, Kakheti and Mtskheta-Mtianeti regions.
To mark the 30th anniversary of Georgia’s Independence from the Soviet Union, at the initiative of the Georgian Embassy in Armenia, billboards in Yerevan lit up in red and white – the colours of Georgia’s national flag.
On May 26, the day when Georgia celebrates its Independence Day, one of the most well-known Niagara Falls in a city in Ontario, Canada lit up in colours of Georgia’s national flag.
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.
The 1991 referendum on Georgia’s independence “proved once again, loudly and firmly”, that freedom is the “primary value” for Georgians, Shalva Papuashvili, the Speaker of the Parliament, said on Thursday in comments marking the 31st anniversary of the plebiscite.
General Giorgi Mazniashvili, leader of armed forces in the tumultuous years of Georgia’s First Democratic Republic, has been celebrated by the country’s Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili as a “great military leader” on an anniversary of the historical figure’s birth on Wednesday.
Georgian prime minister Irakli Garibashvili on Thursday praised the “huge contribution” of National Hero Merab Kostava to the country’s independence on the 33rd anniversary of his death.
Georgian institutions and citizens on Friday marked the 32nd anniversary of the referendum that led to the country regaining independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili on Sunday honoured the memory of the victims of the April 9, 1989 tragedy, the “heroes, who paved the way for freedom at the cost of their own lives”.
Traffic in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi will be restricted to facilitate preparations for the annual Independence Day celebrations on Friday, the Ministry of Internal Affairs said on Monday.