President Zurabishvili in Ergneti: Europe Will be the Ultimate Unifier

On August 7, Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili visited the museum dedicated to the August 2008 war in Ergneti, a village near the occupation line of the Tskhinvali region. Talking to the journalist in front of the museum, she stressed the importance of never forgetting and never getting used to what happened in 2008, of doing more to reconcile society and protect Georgian churches and language, of the role of European integration in the context of reconciliation, and of being grateful to “foreign agents” for restoring the village of Ergneti.

President Zurabishvili stressed: “This is the memory that we have no right to lose… We cannot come to terms with it… This is not – as Mr. Prime Minister stated – “the given circumstances.” We will never get used to it, and not getting used to it means that every day we have to think about what we can do. Not to regain these territories by any war or violence. The return of these territories and, more precisely, the reconciliation of the populations there and here, begins here [in Ergneti].”

She stressed that in order to begin the reconciliation of the populations, the village must be strengthened and the people living in the village must have the opportunity to grow and develop through various programs. She also emphasized that message should also be sent to the occupied territories for both the Ossetian and Georgian populations there, that “their future, like ours, is in Europe, and it will be the ultimate unifier”.

President Zurabishvili also noted: “I wonder when was the last time our Minister of Culture appealed to UNESCO to protect our churches [in the occupied territories]? What is being done? What is being done for the Georgian language?” She also asked what the strategy was and what the State Minister’s Office for Reconciliation was doing to strengthen and develop the surrounding communities emphasizing: “I can’t help but remind you that this village has been completely rebuilt with the money of “foreign agents”, thanks to them.”

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