Saakashvili delivers speech at Munich Security Conference

Saakashvili delivers speech at Munich Security Conference

06.02.11

Georgian President delivered Sunday a speech at the 47th Munich Security Conference. Mikheil Saakashvili addressed representatives of 46 countries. About 350 high-ranking officials listened to his speech.

"Having experienced and survived very uncertain times, we, Georgians, believe not only that all people have the right to aspire to stability, but also that it is our collective responsibility to project this stability in areas where it does not exist.

"This is why Georgia has sent almost 1,000 troops to support some of the most dangerous missions of the ISAF deployment in Afghanistan—to help the Afghan people achieve a sustainable peace and to prevent terrorists from again using that country as a base.

"For Georgia, a country of just 4.7 millions souls, whose territory is still partly occupied, such an effort underscores our determination to be a provider—and not just a consumer—of international security.

"I came here to deliver one simple message: ignoring the ongoing military build-ups fueled by well-known foreign hands can lead to future disasters.

"South Caucasus is the only alternative road to bring the Central Asian energy to Europe, a supply route for the ISAF mission, a region in which people are striving for transatlantic integration and for European transformation.

"But a region, also, where the law of weapons has prevailed too many times in the recent past, where some leaders of a former Empire still apply a well known policy: "divide to rule".

"In order to avoid new confrontations, we should all take our responsibilities.

"My government is committed to take every possible step in order to defuse tensions and pave the way to a just and lasting peace in the region.

"In the 80% of Georgia that we control, we have made in the last 7 years considerable progress in building a multi-ethnic state where all citizens have access to the government and the economy.

"Towards the regions illegally occupied by the Russian troops, we have adopted a comprehensive strategy of peaceful engagement of all populations, trying to rebuild the bridges between communities that the Soviet leaders and their heirs have systematically destroyed.

"I came here today to repeat this simple message: Peace is the only solution, and a comprehensive political dialogue is the only way to achieve it.

"But until now, how did the Russian leaders respond to our call?

"Not only they refused to reciprocate the non-use of force, they responded by accelerating the military build-up in the occupied regions, announcing lastly the deployment of offensive missiles 50 miles from our capital.

"What is at stake is more than just a nation of 4,7 millions people dreaming of independence and transatlantic integration, and even more that the South Caucasus at large.

"What is at stake is this Europe whole and free that the end of the Cold War should have allowed to exist already.

"It is time to debunk the idea that so-called "frozen conflicts" are a stalemate and that advantage can only be gained by using force", Saakashvili said.

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