August 8 is one of the most tragic days in the recent history of Georgia. In August 2008, Russia openly, with military armament, aggression and vast jump over the Caucasian Mountain Range where Georgian-Russian border lays, intruded into the depth of the Georgian territory. This war took numerous lives and today we commemorate the victims. As a result of the war thousands of people were expelled from their homes, over 20% percent of Georgia’s territories remain occupied by Russia and locked by barbed wire fences and artificial barriers that pose numerous challenges to people living on the both sides of the divide.
This war has no winner in our societies. It is our common tragedy and common pain. 9 years after the August war we have to observe and assess its grave outcomes and acknowledge that the existing situation, an ongoing occupation and the unresolved conflict does not serve the interests of either Georgian, or Abkhazian, or Ossetian communities. We all suffer.
Division of families, villages and kinship with barbed wires, trenches or other artificial barriers as well as illegal detentions of local residents is unlawful and contradicts not only the international law but also the principles of humanity and the values of civilized world. Mankind has witnessed the fall of many artificial walls. The Berlin Wall came down, and the times will come when barbed wire fences and artificial barriers on Georgian territory collapse.
We undergo open occupation for already 9 years but suffer 25 years of unresolved conflict. This period may be relatively short for history, but too long for one life. Thus, we shall take care of people for whom the ongoing occupation and unresolved conflict became an everyday challenge. We are no less concerned by the grave condition of our population, isolated by barbwires up to date. We should seek pragmatic solutions through community dialogue, discuss common interests and launch initiatives oriented towards their welfare, protected rights and bettering off the prospects for development.
We can take steps jointly for better future and we should do this today. We should never allow again the war, confrontation or being dragged into provocations; rather take a step towards peaceful future. This implies elimination of confrontations, engagement in dialogue and reconciliation.
Georgia will never accord with occupation of its territories. Government of Georgia pursues exclusively peaceful, constructive and pragmatic policy of conflict resolution. We remain confident that this policy will lead to ultimate results that implies the de-occupation of the country and reconciliation of conflict divided communities. Living together in a peaceful, developed, unified and European Georgia, where identity and rights of all citizens and ethnic groups is respected and protected is the only alternative to ongoing Russification and de facto annexation of the occupied territories.
Georgia is not alone in this endeavor. Our partners stand beside in the fight for freedom. We express our gratitude towards all our partners for steadfast support based on the principle of sovereignty and territorial integrity of Georgia and remain confident this support will strongly be rendered in future as well.