"Georgia has chosen the path of development, freedom, and democracy at every major juncture in its history. This is the European path. European values are, first and foremost, Georgian values, which is why it is so natural for us to move towards Europe. I mentioned the move, but today this road is frozen. This government has halted our progress, deviated from the constitution, and thus betrayed its voters," said President Salome Zourabichvili at the founding event of the new civil movement, Vote For Europe.
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As Zourabichvili stated, she was part of the campaign that first brought the Georgian Dream to power and then became a presidential candidate. The president said that all these campaigns were built on the principle that the country's foreign policy and development were aimed at building a European state.
"They turned away from this path and froze us. What is happening today at the NATO summit, including the statements about cutting off aid to our defense forces, is a very serious threat to this country.
There is little time left - 100 days. One hundred days is both a little and a lot for society to have its say. Today we will not have an ordinary election; this is not just some election campaign. Otherwise, I would not be here as the president. This is about the fate of the country, our future. This is truly a referendum, and in this referendum, Georgian society is on one side and the government, which has usurped our future, is on the other. We cannot agree on that. We need to unite, fulfill the charter that all parties have signed, or if they haven't signed, they agree with.
After the election, there will be very little time to implement what is written in the charter. We have very little time to get out of this frozen state, to return to our partners, and convince them that we are back on track and that they should reopen all the doors that are half closed today. This is an inevitable task for us. We have no other way, no other alternative. There are many of us, we are very united, and Georgia will win," Zourabichvili said.
Vote For Europe was founded by security expert Khatuna Lagazidze, political analyst and professor of Tbilisi State University Lela Jejelava, expert on European politics Giorgi Rukhadze, businessman Iva Chkonia, and professor of the University of Georgia, Dr. Lasha Dzebishvili. The civil movement plans to hold a 100-day continuous European Marathon from July 18 to October 26, during which they will inform the Georgian population about the importance of the upcoming elections and help immigrants with consular registration.
