Ex-Foreign Minister Zourabichvili Launches Political Party
Georgia’s ex-Foreign Minister Salome Zourabichvili will present a comprehensive political platform of her party this week through which she plans to run in local self-governance elections, scheduled for this autumn.
Some Georgian newspapers, as well as news agencies, published interviews with Salome Zourabichvili on January 30 after her return from a six-week European trip.
Zourabichvili says in the interviews that during her European trip -which included visits to France, Germany, Austria and Belgium – she participated in several international forums and held meetings with EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana in Brussels as well as with representatives of several German foundations.
The ex-Foreign Minister, who is currently running the “Salome Zourabichvili’s Movement,” also said that she has initiated a non-governmental organization European Initiative for Georgia, which will focus on attracting more European attention on Georgia.
She said that her trip to Europe was a test for her as well, to see whether her popularity was strong enough in Georgia.
“That [public support] is my strength, but one can not build [a political career] on this alone. One of the reasons behind my trip to Europe was to see whether public support was more emotional, which would have passed after some time, or whether it was something deeper and stronger. I am glad that that this [support] has not disappeared over these six weeks,” Zourabichvili said in an interview with RFE/RL Georgian service on January 30.
