Saakashvili Calls for Consolidation Amid Russian Pressure

President Saakashvili called on the nation once again on May 5 to consolidate against the background of mounting pressure from Russia.

“We should not show our weaknesses and signs of stepping back… This should be not a goal of the Georgian authorities alone, but of entire Georgian people and the Georgian people are not going to respond to blackmail with fear,” Saakashvili told reporters upon returning from Vilnius, where he participated in a summit of the leaders from the Black Sea and Baltic regions.

“We want good neighborly and equal relations with Russia… I have just arrived from Lithuania, which has also experienced similar pressure from Russia; but Lithuania today lives 3-4 times better… I think we will endure this pressure easer than Lithuania did, because we have already created a certain economic basis… These kinds of pressures make all prideful nations more consolidated and more firm,” Saakashvili said.

He said Georgia is a prideful nation with whom it is easier to start a dialogue based on friendship, “and we have never said no to this.”