Who is the president of Georgia? Who is she - the new president of Georgia? Career and family of Salome Zurabishvili
The experienced European-style diplomat Salome Zurabishvili won the presidential elections in Georgia. The opposition and ex-President Mikheil Saakashvili have already dubbed her a traitor playing into the hands of Russia. And this despite the fact that it was her rival Grigol Vashadze, and not she, who worked for many years in the USSR Foreign Ministry and was close to the KGB. Why is Zurabishvili accused of being pro-Russian and is this really so?
In Georgia, following the results of the second round of elections, which took place on Wednesday, a new president was elected - 66-year-old former Minister of Foreign Affairs of the country Salome Zurabishvili. She will take office on December 16, when the inauguration ceremony will take place.
Based on the results of counting all ballots, Zurabishvili received 59.52%. That's 1,114,627 votes. Her opponent, another former head of the Georgian Foreign Ministry, Grigol Vashadze, a protege of Saakashvili and his United National Movement, received 780,633 votes. This is 40.48 percent.
Salome Zurabishvili was supported by the ruling Georgian Dream. Admittedly, the facts that a woman became the president of Georgia, and a second round had to be held to determine the winner, indicate the continuation of Georgia’s path to building democratic institutions. Another challenge, the most pressing one, is to prevent shocks after the elections and smoothly return to normal life.
Of course, the responsible party for stability and order is the government. But the opposition must also demonstrate maturity. She has achieved a lot, which will increase her percentage in the parliamentary elections in two years. On Thursday evening, Grigol Vashadze and supporters will announce plans.
It is worth noting that perhaps the most precious votes that Zurabishvili lost and Vashadze received were the votes of Georgian peacekeepers in Afghanistan. The score there is 452 against 362 in favor of the oppositionist. This is an echo of the image losses suffered by the winner, who said that Saakashvili, with his unreasonable actions, was also involved in the 2008 tragedy. In Georgia, the political elite - as is the custom here - should only accuse Russia of “aggression” and “occupation”.
Therefore, most of the Georgian military, both currently in service and those already retired, supported Saakashvili, who accused Zurabishvili of “betrayal” for such words. And although she did not say anything new - everything was already written down in the report of the EU commission led by Heidi Tagliavini, which determined the shares of responsibility of Russia and Georgia, the black PR machine worked in Tbilisi. The Georgian television company Rustavi-2, which openly works for Saakashvili, called for people not to vote for Zurabishvili. And now she, as the new commander-in-chief, will have to improve relations in the army.
What is Salome Zurabishvili accused of, what did her opponents not like? At the beginning of the election campaign, she said that Saakashvili and his entourage played into the hands of Moscow by succumbing to Russian provocation. And Russia allegedly used this as a reason to start a war against Georgia. “This was a huge crime by Saakashvili and the National Movement against the Georgian people and state, and remembering this is our civic duty,” she said. After this, the ex-president and his supporters launched a massive attack on the “traitor,” because Mikheil Saakashvili does not tolerate any reminder of responsibility.
At the same time, Zurabishvili herself, as a diplomat of the European school, stands out for her much more balanced approaches to politics in general, expert Khatuna Lagazidze told the VZGLYAD newspaper. As an example, she cites Zurabishvili’s first post-election statement, in which she spoke out for dialogue with opponents, saying that she would be the president of those hundreds of thousands of citizens who voted against her.
Against the background of talk about the “Europeanism” of Salome Zurabishvili, Saakashvili’s next destructive statements stand out especially clearly. He famously called on supporters for mass protests and civil disobedience. However, these calls did not find support in Georgia, even among the associates of the fugitive ex-president. Thus, Grigol Vashadze told reporters: “What is not voiced at the headquarters of the united opposition as a collective position is the personal views of one person.”
The fact is that even the Georgian oppositionists who boast of their pro-Westernism should understand that, firstly, Salome Zurabishvili is already receiving congratulations from abroad, and secondly, none of the world leaders will like calls for destabilization in a fragile, sensitive region Caucasus.
As for Russia, Moscow has taken note of the message about the winner of the presidential elections in Georgia and is waiting for Tbilisi to assess the prospects for relations with Russia, said presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov.
“We prefer to wait for the first statements and assessment of possible prospects for the development of relations between Russia and Georgia,” Peskov emphasized. “Of course, the two peoples remain very close to each other, interstate ties leave much to be desired after the well-known events,” he added.
How will Zurabishvili's coming to power affect relations with Russia? Yes, most likely not. Firstly, its powers in a parliamentary republic will be extremely limited. She will have limited opportunities to determine the foreign policy agenda, which must be coordinated with the government.
As a symbol in this regard, and in the sense of the foreign policy vector, it is that she will replace the presidential palace, rebuilt by Mikheil Saakashvili, with a small residence in the center of Tbilisi, where the US Embassy, the main partner and patron of the South Caucasian state, used to be located.
In addition, it is worth understanding that Tbilisi is not going to restore diplomatic relations with Moscow, severed by the 2008 war. Moreover, this will not be done by Zurabishvili, who is even genetically alien to Russia and its politics.
“I will remind you of her statement on the current crisis in the Black Sea between Russia and Ukraine (Zurabishvili supported Kyiv and called on the international community for an urgent response),” said analyst Khatuna Lagazidze, noting that, in her opinion, Zurabishvili’s position was rational and completely was in the interests of Georgia.
Thus, the accusations against her from Saakashvili’s supporters and the assertion that Zurabishvili’s arrival is beneficial to Russia are, to put it mildly, an exaggeration. “This is exactly black PR. How can one say that Zurabishvili is preferable for Russia? This can't possibly be true! – former State Minister for Conflict Resolution Georgy Khaindrava tells the newspaper VZGLYAD:
In fact, Moscow would be more satisfied with Vashadze's victory. He is a real Russian project. How could it be otherwise? He worked for many years in the USSR Foreign Ministry, he is close to the KGB. He did not renounce Russian citizenship even during the war. I know Salome well. She doesn’t even speak Russian, let alone think like Vashadze.”
Georgy Khaindrava recalled that Zurabishvili grew up in France in a family of emigrants who fled Georgia after the Sovietization of the Georgian Democratic Republic in 1921.
“There will be no concessions to Russia from Zurabishvili,” the former state minister is confident. – Remember how toughly she negotiated with Sergei Lavrov and achieved the withdrawal of Russian military bases. Another thing is that, as a reasonable politician of the true European style, she will be committed to a balanced course.”
Indeed, as an experienced diplomat, Zurabishvili will be forced to strike a balance. Even to the detriment of your image. And this has already manifested itself in her support for the conclusions of the European Union commission, which accused Saakashvili of opening fire in 2008.
The authoritative Georgian analyst Mamuka Areshidze fully admits Zurabishvili’s dialogue with Moscow, but about what Georgia needs, namely on the topic of “de-occupation.” According to him, “part of Georgian society supported Zurabishvili also because it has the resource to be active in the external field and create additional formats of communication.” As he told reporters, Georgia’s own initiatives in this area of communication with Moscow, which would be in unison with Western ones, “could step by step help the process of de-occupation of Georgia.”
Areshidze called Salome Zurabishvili an “experienced diplomat” and suggested waiting and seeing if she will succeed on the front of negotiations with Russia, especially against the backdrop of the fact that, in his words, “the format of negotiations between Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin and Special Representative of the Prime Minister of Georgia Zurab Abashidze.” “Therefore, I think that it is possible to understand the level of communication,” the expert concluded.
Georgia has made another political breakthrough by electing a new president. On November 28, 2018, a woman became the head of state, which is surprising for such a patriarchal country. The biography of Salome Zurabishvili, a Georgian woman who was born and raised in France, but all her life dreamed of returning to the homeland of her ancestors, is also unusual. Georgians consider Salome Zurabishvili a true patriot of their country and hope that she will faithfully serve the people who elected her.
Salome Zurabishvili was born in 1952 in Paris into a family of Georgian emigrants who fled Soviet rule in 1921. Salome's father was an engineer, his mother ran a household and raised children. Zurabishvili's outstanding ancestors were highly educated intellectuals: his grandfather was a member of the government of independent Georgia, and his great-grandfather founded a seaport and initiated the construction of the first railway in Georgia.
The father of the future president was the founder of the Georgian diaspora in France. The family carefully preserved national traditions. Salome studied her native language and literature, as well as the history of Georgia. She actively absorbed patriotic sentiments, helped Georgian dissidents expelled from the USSR, published a newspaper in France in her native language, and even participated in demonstrations against the policies of the Soviet Union.
Career and family of Salome Zurabishvili
Salome Zurabishvili also received her education abroad. She holds graduate degrees from the Paris Polytechnic Institute and Columbia University in the USA. After completing her studies, Salome began to actively build a diplomatic career. Over almost 30 years of experience, she managed to work as part of the French diplomatic missions to NATO and the UN, as well as as a secretary at the embassy in Italy, the USA and Chad.
In 2004, Zurabishvili first appeared on the political arena of Georgia. After the Rose Revolution, at the request of Mikheil Saakashvili, she became the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Georgia and received Georgian citizenship. However, a year later, due to a conflict with the head of parliament and accusations against the new authorities of trying to establish a clan dictatorship in the country, she left her post.
After her resignation, Zurabishvili created her own opposition party, “The Way of Georgia.” However, having failed to realize her ideas and becoming disillusioned with Georgian politics, she left for France, where she worked at the UN office to deal with the problem of the conflict in Iran. In 2012, Salome returned to Georgia, and already in 2013 she tried to run for president for the first time. However, she was denied registration due to her dual citizenship.
For several years, Salome was a member of the Georgian parliament and was part of the opposition coalition. In the summer of 2018, she renounced her French citizenship in order to participate in the presidential elections, in which she won a landslide victory.
Salome Zurabishvili was married twice. In her first marriage, she gave birth to two children - a daughter, Ketevan, and a son, Teimuraz. Her second husband was Soviet dissident and Radio Liberty journalist Zhanri Kashiya, who died in 2012.
Political views of Salome Zurabishvili
Zurabishvili's attitude towards Russia is ambiguous. She is not considered a supporter of Russian politics. Salome intends to realize her family’s dream and strengthen Georgia’s independence, as well as support its movement towards Europe. The politician has repeatedly stated that Russia repeatedly occupied Georgia, which is why her ancestors were forced to leave their homeland. She condemns the Russian operation to force Georgia to peace in 2008 as a violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of her country.
However, Zurabishvili believes that it would be useful for Georgia to normalize relations with Russia. Moreover, many local business structures continue to do business with the Russian Federation, despite the negativity in the official policies of the states.
The new president of Georgia is Salome Zurabishvili. Who is she?
Georgia has found its fifth president. A figure that is in many ways unusual for the Transcaucasian republic. For the first time in the history of independent Georgia, a woman became the head of state, moreover, a Parisian by birth and, until recently, a French woman by passport - Salome Zurabishvili.
PHOTO by Mikhail DZHAPARIDZE/TASS
The current presidential elections had two more features. Firstly, they took place in a difficult struggle and in two rounds, which has not happened before in the political history of the country. And secondly, Zurabishvili will remain the last president elected by popular vote. Six years after the end of her term, according to changes in the constitution, the head of state will be appointed by a special electoral college of 300 people.
It should be noted that after the 2010 reform, Georgia is a parliamentary republic, where all power is concentrated in the parliament and government. According to the updated version of the constitution, the president of the country retains the title of head of state, but his actual powers without executive functions are severely limited. He represents the country at the international level, is the commander-in-chief, and performs various representative functions.
Despite this, the current elections turned out to be important and revealing in their own way, because they had to answer two interrelated questions. What is the real popularity of the country's ruling Georgian Dream party, billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili, and whether ex-President of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili will be able to return to local politics in the near future. The fact is that, although 25 candidates ran for the presidency, only two had real chances. Salome Zurabishvili, who ran as an independent candidate, but enjoyed the full support of the current authorities and the so-called administrative resource. And Grigol Vashadze, representative of Saakashvili’s United National Movement party.
The first round, in which Zurabishvili beat her opponent by less than one percent, raised hopes among Saakashvili's supporters. But at the same time, as the second round showed, it mobilized opponents of the ex-president. As a result, with a turnout that was almost 10% higher than in the first round (56% versus 46%), Salome Zurabishvili overtook Grigol Vashadze by almost 20%.
The new president of Georgia was born in 1952 in the capital of France into a family of Georgian political emigrants.
Two of her grandfathers were subjects of the Russian Empire. Moreover, one was a practitioner and initiator of the construction of the seaport in Poti and the Georgian railway. And the second grandfather was a politician: he was part of the government of the Georgian Mensheviks, who seized power in the country after 1917. But in 1921 the government changed, and both grandfathers and their families emigrated to France. Salome's parents graduated from French universities, her father got a job at an automobile plant, where he worked as an engineer, and her mother was a housewife. The family always tried not to forget their national roots, they spoke their native language, hence Salome’s knowledge of Georgian. Also, the parents were staunch opponents of Soviet power. Young Salome took part in demonstrations in Paris against the visits of Soviet leaders.
Salome was always an excellent student, both at school and then, studying first at the Paris Institute of Political Sciences, and then overseas at Columbia University in the USA. From her youth she dreamed of a diplomatic career, and at an interview at the French Foreign Ministry she directly stated that she would like to become the ambassador of this country to Georgia. Surprisingly, sometimes even such dreams come true. After a nearly thirty-year career in the French foreign policy department, where Zurabishvili served in various positions and in various countries (from Chad to Italy), at the age of 51 she became the ambassador of the Fifth Republic in the homeland of her ancestors.
Zurabishvili was present during the Orange Revolution when Saakashvili came to power. Moreover, on his initiative, the French ambassador became the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Georgia in 2004. However, his career at the “Georgian court” did not work out. After working for just over a year and a half in Saakashvili's government, she resigned in 2005.
Some time later, Madame Zurabishvili tried to revive her career in Georgia by creating her own social movement. The attempt was unsuccessful. Zurabishvili left inhospitable Georgia and worked for some time at the UN. However, as soon as a politician capable of “overthrowing” the Saakashvili regime appeared on the political horizon, she returned to the homeland of her ancestors. First, in 2016, with the support of Bidzina Ivanishvili, Zurabishvili received a mandate as a member of parliament, but now, after the presidential elections, she managed to move to the chair of the head of state.
The new president of Georgia has never been a supporter of establishing relations with Russia. Which, however, is not surprising, given her biography, family roots and traditions. “Our goal is NATO and the EU. There is no alternative. Russia does not offer any prospects. I don’t see how it is possible to resume dialogue with Moscow in some form,” Zurabishvili said during the pre-election period.
However, one should not overestimate the influence of Madame Zurabishvili on Russian-Georgian relations. In fact, they are determined by the government and Bidzina Ivanishvili personally. The normalization of relations, primarily in the trade and economic sphere, between Moscow and Tbilisi has already occurred in the period 2012 - 2016. Today, Russia is Georgia’s second largest trade partner (after Turkey). And in order to restore diplomatic relations, it is necessary to move forward in resolving the issue of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. In the current situation, based on the opposing approaches to the problem on the part of Russia and Georgia, this is simply impossible for now.
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Material from Wikipedia - the free encyclopedia
President of Georgia საქართველოს პრეზიდენტი |
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Standard of the President of Georgia |
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Application form |
Mister President; Your Excellency |
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Official residence | |
Appointed |
elected |
Term of office |
5 years, no more than 2 terms |
Position appeared | |
First in office | |
Website |
Oath
The presidential inauguration takes place on the third Sunday after the election. During the ceremony, the president takes the oath of office before God and the nation:
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Residence
The residence of the President of Georgia is located in the city of Tbilisi, in the historical district of Avlabari, on M. Abdushelashvili Street. The palace was built on the initiative of Mikheil Saakashvili in 2009. Several architects worked on the palace; the author of the project is Giorgi Batiashvili, although the residence was completed by the Italian Mikel de Luca. Compositionally, the palace is a classic three-port horizontal building ending in a glass dome. To the south of the residence there is a cubic building, which is the building of the state chancellery.
List of presidents of Georgia
№ | President (years of life) |
Photo | Start of authority | Termination of powers | Notes |
1 | Zviad Gamsakhurdia (1939-1993) |
April 14, 1991 | December 31, 1993 | November 14, 1990 to January 6, 1992 | |
2 | Eduard Shevardnadze (1928-2014) |
November 25, 1995 | November 23, 2003 | In fact, he led the state since March 10, 1992 | |
- | Nino Burjanadze (born 1964) |
November 23, 2003 | January 25, 2004 | ||
3 | Mikheil Saakashvili (born 1967) |
January 25, 2004 | November 25, 2007 | ||
- | Nino Burjanadze (born 1964) |
November 25, 2007 | January 20, 2008 | Temporarily Acting President as Speaker of Parliament | |
3 | Mikheil Saakashvili (born 1967) |
January 20, 2008 | November 17, 2013 | ||
4 | Giorgi Margvelashvili (born 1969) |
November 17, 2013 | Present tense |
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Excerpt characterizing the President of Georgia
– Due to current circumstances, Sofya Danilovna and her children left for the Torzhkov village, your Excellency.“I’ll still come in, I need to sort out the books,” said Pierre.
- Please, you are welcome, brother of the deceased, - the kingdom of heaven! “Makar Alekseevich remained, yes, as you know, they are weak,” said the old servant.
Makar Alekseevich was, as Pierre knew, the half-crazy, hard-drinking brother of Joseph Alekseevich.
- Yes, yes, I know. Let’s go, let’s go...” said Pierre and entered the house. A tall, bald old man in a dressing gown, with a red nose, and galoshes on his bare feet, stood in the hallway; Seeing Pierre, he muttered something angrily and went into the corridor.
“They were of great intelligence, but now, as you can see, they have weakened,” said Gerasim. - Would you like to go to the office? – Pierre nodded his head. – The office was sealed and remains so. Sofya Danilovna ordered that if they come from you, then release the books.
Pierre entered the same gloomy office that he had entered with such trepidation during the life of his benefactor. This office, now dusty and untouched since the death of Joseph Alekseevich, was even gloomier.
Gerasim opened one shutter and tiptoed out of the room. Pierre walked around the office, went to the cabinet in which the manuscripts lay, and took out one of the once most important shrines of the order. These were genuine Scottish deeds with notes and explanations from the benefactor. He sat down at a dusty desk and put the manuscripts in front of him, opened them, closed them and, finally, moving them away from him, leaning his head on his hands, began to think.
Several times Gerasim carefully looked into the office and saw that Pierre was sitting in the same position. More than two hours passed. Gerasim allowed himself to make noise in the doorway in order to attract Pierre's attention. Pierre didn't hear him.
-Will you order the driver to be released?
“Oh, yes,” Pierre said, waking up, hastily getting up. “Listen,” he said, taking Gerasim by the button of his coat and looking down at the old man with shiny, wet, enthusiastic eyes. - Listen, do you know that there will be a battle tomorrow?..
“They told me,” answered Gerasim.
“I ask you not to tell anyone who I am.” And do what I say...
“I obey,” said Gerasim. - Would you like to eat?
- No, but I need something else. “I need a peasant dress and a pistol,” said Pierre, suddenly blushing.
“I’m listening,” Gerasim said after thinking.
Pierre spent the rest of that day alone in his benefactor's office, restlessly walking from one corner to another, as Gerasim heard, and talking to himself, and spent the night on the bed that was prepared for him right there.
Gerasim, with the habit of a servant who had seen many strange things in his lifetime, accepted Pierre's relocation without surprise and seemed pleased that he had someone to serve. That same evening, without even asking himself why it was needed, he got Pierre a caftan and a hat and promised to buy the required pistol the next day. That evening Makar Alekseevich, slapping his galoshes, approached the door twice and stopped, looking ingratiatingly at Pierre. But as soon as Pierre turned to him, he bashfully and angrily wrapped his robe around him and hastily walked away. While Pierre, in a coachman's caftan, purchased and steamed for him by Gerasim, went with him to buy a pistol from the Sukharev Tower, he met the Rostovs.
On the night of September 1, Kutuzov ordered the retreat of Russian troops through Moscow to the Ryazan road.
The first troops moved into the night. The troops marching at night were in no hurry and moved slowly and sedately; but at dawn the moving troops, approaching the Dorogomilovsky Bridge, saw ahead of them, on the other side, crowding, hurrying across the bridge and on the other side rising and clogging the streets and alleys, and behind them - pressing, endless masses of troops. And causeless haste and anxiety took possession of the troops. Everything rushed forward to the bridge, onto the bridge, into the fords and into the boats. Kutuzov ordered to be taken around the back streets to the other side of Moscow.
By ten o'clock in the morning on September 2, only the rearguard troops remained in the open air in the Dorogomilovsky Suburb. The army was already on the other side of Moscow and beyond Moscow.
At the same time, at ten o’clock in the morning on September 2, Napoleon stood between his troops on Poklonnaya Hill and looked at the spectacle that opened before him. Starting from the 26th of August and until the 2nd of September, from the Battle of Borodino until the enemy entered Moscow, all the days of this alarming, this memorable week there was that extraordinary autumn weather that always surprises people, when the low sun warms hotter than in the spring, when everything sparkles in the rare, clean air so that it hurts the eyes, when the chest becomes stronger and fresher, inhaling the fragrant autumn air, when the nights are even warm and when in these dark warm nights golden stars constantly rain down from the sky, frightening and delighting.
On September 2 at ten o'clock in the morning the weather was like this. The shine of the morning was magical. Moscow from Poklonnaya Hill spread out spaciously with its river, its gardens and churches and seemed to live its own life, trembling like stars with its domes in the rays of the sun.
At the sight of a strange city with unprecedented forms of extraordinary architecture, Napoleon experienced that somewhat envious and restless curiosity that people experience when they see the forms of an alien life that does not know about them. Obviously, this city lived with all the forces of its life. By those indefinable signs by which at a long distance a living body is unmistakably distinguished from a dead one. Napoleon from Poklonnaya Hill saw the fluttering of life in the city and felt, as it were, the breath of this large and beautiful body.
– Cette ville Asiatique aux innombrables eglises, Moscow la sainte. La voila donc enfin, cette fameuse ville! Il etait temps, [This Asian city with countless churches, Moscow, their holy Moscow! Here it is, finally, this famous city! It's time!] - said Napoleon and, dismounting from his horse, ordered the plan of this Moscou to be laid out in front of him and called the translator Lelorgne d "Ideville. "Une ville occupee par l"ennemi ressemble a une fille qui a perdu son honneur, [A city occupied by the enemy , is like a girl who has lost her virginity.] - he thought (as he said this to Tuchkov in Smolensk). And from this point of view, he looked at the oriental beauty lying in front of him, whom he had never seen before. It was strange to him that his long-standing desire, which seemed impossible to him, had finally come true. In the clear morning light he looked first at the city, then at the plan, checking the details of this city, and the certainty of possession excited and terrified him.
“But how could it be otherwise? - he thought. - Here it is, this capital, at my feet, awaiting its fate. Where is Alexander now and what does he think? Strange, beautiful, majestic city! And strange and majestic this minute! In what light do I appear to them? - he thought about his troops. “Here it is, the reward for all these people of little faith,” he thought, looking around at those close to him and at the troops approaching and forming. – One word of mine, one movement of my hand, and this ancient capital of des Czars perished. Mais ma clemence est toujours prompte a descendre sur les vaincus. [kings. But my mercy is always ready to descend to the vanquished.] I must be generous and truly great. But no, it’s not true that I’m in Moscow, it suddenly occurred to him. “However, here she lies at my feet, playing and trembling with golden domes and crosses in the rays of the sun. But I will spare her. On the ancient monuments of barbarism and despotism I will write great words of justice and mercy... Alexander will understand this most painfully, I know him. (It seemed to Napoleon that the main significance of what was happening lay in his personal struggle with Alexander.) From the heights of the Kremlin - yes, this is the Kremlin, yes - I will give them the laws of justice, I will show them the meaning of true civilization, I will force generations the boyars lovingly remember the name of their conqueror. I will tell the deputation that I did not and do not want war; that I waged war only against the false policy of their court, that I love and respect Alexander, and that I will accept peace terms in Moscow worthy of me and my peoples. I do not want to take advantage of the happiness of war to humiliate the respected sovereign. Boyars - I will tell them: I do not want war, but I want peace and prosperity for all my subjects. However, I know that their presence will inspire me, and I will tell them as I always say: clearly, solemnly and grandly. But is it really true that I am in Moscow? Yes, here she is!
Senator Pushkov appreciated the words of the elected President of Georgia about Russia. Meanwhile, the US State Department pointed out shortcomings in the elections, and Saakashvili expressed his readiness to return.
The new elected President of Georgia, Salome Zurabishvili, gave a long interview to Reuters, in which she stated under what conditions she would be able to begin negotiations with Russia. According to her, quoted by Day online, there will be none until Moscow recognizes the “occupation of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.” Russia was named by Zurabishvili as an enemy.
“When you have an enemy who is known and predictable, you know what your next moves will be. In this case, I will be frank, I do not know what Georgia’s next steps should be in relation to Russia. It is unpredictable and overly present on our territory,” said the President of Georgia.
Moreover, she recalled Georgia’s intentions to join NATO and expressed concern that Tbilisi could not move on to cooperation with Russia “because of its actions in neighboring states.”
Russian senator Alexei Pushkov was one of the first to appreciate Zurabishvili’s statement.
“The new president of Georgia said that the time for cooperation with Moscow has not yet come. But she is wrong to believe that this time will be determined in Tbilisi. Russia is building a new system of relations with the leading countries of the world. And Georgia with such leadership is unlikely to become a priority,” he wrote on Twitter. echo $_SERVER['REMOTE_ADDR'];
The new president of Georgia said that the time for cooperation with Moscow has not yet come. But she is wrong to believe that this time will be determined in Tbilisi. Russia is building a new system of relations with the leading countries of the world. And Georgia with such leadership is unlikely to become a priority.
Biography of Salome Zurabishvili, President of Georgia
There is one unconventional moment in the current Georgian presidential elections: for the first time in history, the ruling Georgian Dream party supported an independent opponent, rather than promoting its own candidacy. In addition, starting in 2024, that is, from the next term of re-elections in Georgia, an electoral summit of 300 people will replace direct elections.
It was no coincidence that Salome found herself at the helm of power. Born on March 18, 1952 in a family of emigrants, she went all the way to becoming a competent politician. Her parents emigrated from Georgia to France in 1921. There they both received an education, and their father took up the position of engineer. The family, despite living in a foreign land, always maintained national traditions. My father became the organizer of the Georgian diaspora, and therefore national roots were firmly held in Salome. The dream of returning to her homeland supported her desire to learn more about Georgian writers and study the history of Georgia.
The Institute of Political Sciences in Paris, which she successfully graduated from in 1972, was perhaps the first experience for future political activity. And after successfully graduating from university in Colombia, I became firmly convinced of the need to become a diplomat. Salome underwent a worthy development as a politician and a competent diplomat, starting from the moment she became secretary of the embassy in Italy. This was followed by assignments in New York. After that - again France, again America, but already in the position of first secretary at the embassy.