This page is the entrance to my home – the country of Georgia – so you are already visiting a little piece of Georgia. If this is your first visit to Georgia, then I must tell you that for Georgians receiving guests is both the greatest honor and the greatest pleasure, because in Georgia we are taught that guests have been sent to us by God. We are pleased and honored to receive you as such.
If you have been here before, we welcome you again as one who is already partly Georgian, and we ask that you join us in welcoming President George W. Bush when he arrives in Tbilisi on the 9 th of May.
On January 28, 2003, President Bush said to the US Congress, “Americans are a free people, who know that freedom is the right of every person and the future of every nation. The liberty we prize is not America's gift to the world, it is God’s gift to humanity.”
Many in Georgia heard President Bush’s words as if they were addressed directly to them. His words inspired us and gave us hope and encouragement in our own difficult struggle to make Georgia a truly free and democratic country, where rights of all are protected and the future is filled with hope.
Ten months later after President Bush’s speech during our peaceful Rose Revolution, which still seems like a miracle even to those of us who were in the middle of it, we in Georgia achieved the blessed gift of liberty. Inspired in part by the example of the United States and other democratic countries, we, the Georgian people, found the strength to reclaim our dignity and power of self-government.
Today we are engaged in the difficult but joyful work of building our country anew in a way that will respect our ancient traditions and use them creatively to build a free, prosperous and vibrant future for Georgia. And now we have the privilege and honor to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the US sharing the gifts of liberty and democracy with our neighbors.
Thank you for visiting us.
As our guest everything here is yours to share and enjoy.
President Mikheil Saakashvili |
