President Starts Annual Address by Speaking on Ukraine
President Giorgi Margvelashvili started his first annual address in the Parliament on February 21 by speaking about “extremely difficult” situation in “our friendly” Ukraine and asked lawmakers and guest attending his speech in the Parliament chamber to observe a minute of silence to honor dozens of people who died in clashes in Kiev.
Addressing the Parliament chamber, where Ukrainian flags are on display on many lawmakers desks, Margvelashvili said: “Government in Ukraine used force against its own citizens and by doing so it crossed the line – the line crossing of which is inadmissible for any government.”
“This protest [in Ukraine] has begun because the [Ukrainian] authorities suspended process of signing of the Association Agreement with the European [Union]. Regrettably, instead of deepening political dialogue by the Ukrainian government, the force was used,” Margvelashvili said.
“The Ukrainian authorities should have spared no effort to unite the society and not to allow confrontation,” he said and added that President Yanukovych “still has a possibility to take very decisive political – I stress political and not violent, steps in order to protect the main thing that should be protected by a leader – every person’s life and simultaneously the country’s unity and integrity.”
“I believe that this chance has not been lost yet; active involvement of the European leaders in this process enables for the achievement of political consensus,” he added.
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