Today, citizens of Georgia are standing together in Tbilisi and other cities for our European, peaceful and safe future. We should peacefully return to our Euro-Atlantic path through dialogue and new elections. This is our historical, strategic, and civilizational choice that will create opportunities for the citizens of Georgia in education, science, business, healthcare, and all key areas. Furthermore, membership in the EU will completely change our role and allow Georgia to be an integral part of European and, therefore, international politics. It will substantially and structurally change our political system. It is significant for a small state to develop appropriate instruments and obtain new functions for more prosperity, security and stability.
Unfortunately, the unconstitutional decision to suspend Georgia's EU accession is changing the foreign policy priorities enshrined in the Constitution of Georgia. The citizens strongly support Georgia's European aspirations. They aspire to become a full-fledged member of the European Union. Analyzing historical, domestic and foreign political factors illustrates that European integration is a national project for Georgia, as it represents an important mechanism to secure national interests. This is why European Integration is the choice, confirmed by the Constitution of Georgia, which requires respect and protection from each of us. The constitution of Georgia is the supreme law of the country, which means that there is no other normative act that is higher than it.
At the same time, an accurate analysis of the geopolitical situation is necessary. In particular, removing the issue of opening accession negotiations with the EU from the political agenda and postponing it for 4 years will deprive us of geopolitical opportunity to move to the next stage of EU integration. Georgia should implement a proactive foreign policy to achieve its strategic goals. Otherwise, we will most likely find ourselves outside the European Union and harm our national interests.
Thus, Georgia is facing a serious threat. Peaceful citizens are struggling for Georgia's freedom and its European future on Rustaveli Avenue. We are witnessing shocking scenes of violence against protestors and journalists. Such gross violations of fundamental rights and freedoms are unacceptable and must be immediately stopped. The investigative authorities should investigate the facts of illegal and disproportionate use of force against peaceful demonstrators and media representatives. This process significantly undermines Georgia’s security, stability, and development. For de-escalation purposes, the voices of the people should be heard and rational decisions should be made by the government.
In light of ongoing events, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia have agreed to impose national sanctions on Georgian officials for their crackdowns on protests in Georgia. Furthermore, according to the statement of the U.S. Department of State, because of the Georgian Dream's anti-democratic actions, the United States has suspended its strategic partnership with Georgia. This bilateral strategic cooperation was based on the Charter on Strategic Partnership between Georgia and the United States, signed in 2009. This Charter supports Georgia's territorial integrity and political independence, strengthening democracy and stability.
The Charter clarifies the following fields of bilateral cooperation: defense and security cooperation; economic, trade and energy cooperation; strengthening democracy; increasing people-to-people and cultural exchanges. According to the Charter, Georgia's integration into Euro-Atlantic institutions is a mutual priority, and they plan to undertake a program of enhanced security cooperation to increase Georgian capabilities. As for economic and trade relations, the United States and Georgia aim to expand cooperation to support economic reforms. The United States endeavors to facilitate the integration of Georgia into the global economy and appropriate international economic organizations. The Charter underlines: recognizing the importance of a well-functioning, market-oriented energy sector, the United States and Georgia intend to explore opportunities for promoting Georgia's energy production, enhancing energy efficiency, and increasing the physical security of energy transit through Georgia to European markets. The Charter pays special attention to strengthening democratic institutions, including the rule of law, civil society, respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, and anti-corruption efforts.
According to the Charter, the United States and Georgia share a desire to increase people-to-people contacts and enhance cultural, educational and professional exchange programs that promote democracy and democratic values and increase mutual understanding. Overall, based on this Charter, the United States assisted the Georgian government in performing reforms in key fields to finalize the institutional building process.
Today, unfortunately, the U.S.–Georgia strategic cooperation strengthened over the years has been suspended, which significantly harms the process related to ensuring the country's security, implementing foreign policy priorities, development, creating opportunities for Georgian citizens and building democratic institutions. We must resume our strategic relations with the U.S. and European partners.
Simultaneously, it should be noted that French President Emmanuel Macron called for an inclusive dialogue with all political parties and representatives of civil society, in accordance with the European and democratic aspirations of the Georgian people. Macron demanded the release of all those who were arbitrarily arrested and called for respect for freedom of expression and assembly.
To save Georgia's statehood, unity, consistency and overcoming the crisis in a peaceful way, with the right strategic vision, are necessary. New elections should be held with the appropriate involvement of international and local observers. This will lead to the sharing of power and the introduction of coalition governance, which should create a significant basis for restoring relations with partners and continuing the process of Georgia's integration into the European Union.
Finally, all politicians must listen to the voice of the people, to prevent the country from civil conflict, and escalation of the situation. We must be able to overcome challenges peacefully, through instruments defined by the Constitution of Georgia. This country belongs to each of us, and we should focus on creating a positive, citizen-oriented, European agenda, and not impeding it.
Georgia will win, and no one can hinder the Georgian people on their path to the European Union and a better future. This is our national project, a great idea that reflects the will of the majority of Georgian citizens, and accordingly, it should be respected.