On 10 December, the Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili addressed the scientific community at Orbeliani Palace. Her controversial statements have caused a reaction nationwide.
“We [must] spread our culture, identity, knowledge about our country. It is our duty and our future. We will either be very interesting to the world or we will not be at all. We have no army, no weapons, and will not have in the future, too. We do not have the great economic potential to conquer the region, but we have a very powerful weapon, called knowledge, science and culture. The region is very rich in this regard. Everything has to start with believing in ourselves,” she said.
Her statement that Georgia “has no army” prompted a response from the Georgian Ministry of Defence. “The Georgian army is strong and our servicemen are heroes,” said Minister of Defence Irakli Garibashvili in response to Zourabichvili’s statement. He emphasized that the President's statement that Georgia has neither army nor weapons is categorically unacceptable to him. “As the Minister of Defence, I want to say that we are proud of our military servicemen and I will do my best to further strengthen the Georgian army,” he added.
The opposition parties in Georgia said that Zourabichvili’s statement was “shameful and anti-state.” Representatives of the Movement Lelo laid a wreath on the Heroes Memorial in Tbilisi. They claimed that the President has insulted the fallen heroes for Georgia’s territorial integrity, along with acting and future soldiers. They called on the president of Georgia to make an apology.
Zourabichvili’s administration issued a public statement, saying that her words were misinterpreted and taken out of context. “The president’s speech yesterday was dedicated to the Georgian national ideology, culture, science, the importance of strengthening of scientific activities and meant that Georgia is capable to take a significant place in the world with its culture. The statement in no way concerned the Georgian armed forces or diminished their role. Spreading such a false interpretation is not only an attempt to discredit the president but it damages the country's interests and security,” read the statement.
The chairpersons of the Georgian parliamentary committees also thought that Zourabichvili’s words were misinterpreted. “Probably, the President could not exactly express what she meant, as she was not brought up in Georgia. She probably wanted to say that our main direction is education and science,“ said Sopho Kiladze, Chairwoman of the Parliament's Human Rights Committee.
The Chairman of Parliament's Defence and Security Committee Irakli Sesiashvili said that when making statements about the army, one should be very careful. “This is very important for the patriotic upbringing of our youth, and we must always emphasize the importance of our soldiers and officers for the country. In this case, the context of President's statement was focused on education and culture,” he said.
