Ruling party Chair highlights role of Georgian Dream in maintaining “uninterrupted peace” in country

Irakli Garibashvili, the Chair of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Thursday highlighted the role of the ruling party in maintaining “uninterrupted peace” in the country, in comments on an anniversary of the 2008 Russia-Georgia war.

We have had a continuous period of peace in the country for 12 years. Thank God that we have not  lost territories, we have not had a war, and we have managed to maintain peace under the occupation, in the most difficult geopolitical situation [while working to] deoccupy our country with our reasonable steps and peaceful policy”, Garibashvili said.

The ruling party Chair extended his gratitude to the country’s Western partners, who he said “unwaveringly support the sovereignty and territorial integrity of our country”, and further pointed out that “we saw that after the [2008] war, Russia set up bases, while the West continued trade and have relations as before”.

“So this is a kind of lesson for us. That is why we say that Georgians know very well the price of war, but we also know the price of peace”, he concluded.

The 2008 war saw 170 servicemembers and professionals of Georgia’s Ministry of Defence killed, along with 14 employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and 224 civilians.

Around 30,000 citizens of the country were forced to abandon their homes in the now-occupied Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) region.