"Congratulations on Independence Day. This day is special because we celebrate the 100th anniversary of the independent, democratic statehood. Although what happened on May 26, 1918 lasted just three years before the Soviet occupation would stop our democratic development for 70 years, but it created a very solid and progressive basis for our modern State and we should take care of it.

"I would like to say with great pride that in the then-founding assembly, the country's ethnodemographical picture was reflected. It included the representatives of different ethnic groups and, what makes me especially happy and what is very important - women. Georgia was one of the first countries in the world where women had not only the right to vote but they themselves were elected and took part in the country's political life. We must take care of this achievement.

"I want to say that our struggle for independence and freedom has not been completed yet, because part of our territories is occupied. Today tens of thousands of people are still being evicted from their homes and many people live in isolation outside the barbed wire fences. We want to walk to the united, European and democratic future where the rights of every human being will be protected and we will be a member of the European and Euro-Atlantic space, which is our historic place, and I am sure we will celebrate in future May, 26 in order to fully embrace the power of liberty".

Ketevan Tsikhelashvili