Georgian PM highlights importance of peace amid Ukraine war in Budapest CPAC Conference address

Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili on Thursday highlighted the importance of peace on the backdrop of the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war and called the conflict “the most dramatic” since World War II, in his keynote address at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference in Hungary’s capital city of Budapest.

In his address at the event hosted by the American Conservative Union, Garibashvili said Russia's invasion of Ukraine had made widespread impact, and stressed the “biggest collaborative effort” was needed to stop the “violent damage and needless human sacrifice”.

Garibashvili noted nearly eight decades had passed since the defeat of fascism in Europe, before telling the event “[w]e must realise that there is no alternative to peace”. “As we support Ukraine, we must do more to ensure peace talks that result in lasting and stable peace conditions”, he stressed.

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The ongoing conflict on the European continent has “further complicated” the complex economic and humanitarian situation stemming from the Covid-19 pandemic, he told the Conference.

It is obvious that today the global order is changing. The world will never be the same again, and no one can find a way out of this difficult situation alone. We need unity and global consolidation for a new, just order. Only by standing together can we achieve this goal”, he added.

Garibashvili also said the challenges were familiar to Georgians who had experienced “terrible times” including “fight for freedom, civil wars, occupation, economic collapse and authoritarian regimes” in the country’s history, noting the “full-scale conflict” with Russia in August 2008 resulting in significant human casualties and 20 percent of Georgia’s territory becoming occupied by Russia.

We Georgians know very well what the price of peace is. Georgia is a small but strong and freedom-loving nation. However, when necessary, we fight selflessly to protect our freedom, our families, and our homeland. Without going into the entire history, even after gaining independence [in the 1990s], we have witnessed several wars in our country”, the Government head stressed.

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"In recent years, our brave soldiers have been protecting global security together with the member countries of the NATO alliance. In Afghanistan, we were the largest per capita contributor to the Resolute Support Mission. Thirty-two brave Georgian soldiers died in this mission, and hundreds were injured”, he added.

The PM also said his Government was making “every effort” to ensure peace, and added it had managed to maintain peace in the country despite “various provocations and destabilisation attempts”, claiming the ruling party had ensured a “long-lasting and unbroken” period of peaceful existence “for the first time” in the country’s post-independence history.

The Conference opening also involved keynote addresses by Miklós Szánthó, the Director General of Hungary’s Center for Fundamental Rights, Matt Schlapp, the Chairman of the ACU, and Hungarian PM Viktor Orbán.

The event’s agenda involves talks on conservative topics ranging from religion to current cultural discourse and family.