Georgia marks Independence Day
No large-scale events are scheduled in Georgia to mark Independence Day this year due to the pandemic. Photo: Nino Alavidze/Agenda.ge.
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Today Georgians mark Independence Day, commemorating May 26, 1918 – the day when the Act of Independence was adopted and which established the First Democratic Republic of Georgia.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, no large-scale events will take place around the country, with Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia marking the date with the country’s armed forces, on the base of the fourth mechanised brigade.
Georgia has to celebrate the day in a different format this year. Photo: Nino Alavidze/Agenda.ge.
Over the past several years, May 26 has been marked as a large-scale public holiday. This year, due to the pandemic, we have to mark this very important holiday in a different style and avoid public gatherings,” Prime Minister’s spokesperson Irakli Chikovani stated yesterday.
The First Democratic Republic of Georgia lasted only three years. In 1921 the country was invaded by the Russian Red Army.
Georgia regained its independence in 1991.
Today Georgia marks the 29th anniversary of the referendum that led to the country gaining independence from the Soviet Union. President Salome Zurabishvili stated that despite the coronavirus pandemic, “we do not have the right to forget” the date, which has led to the restoration of “independent statehood”.
Georgia’s first president Zviad Gamsakhurdia would have turned 80 today. Prime Minister Mamuka Bakhtadze, Parliament Speaker Irakli Kobakhidze and other officials went to the Mtatsminda Pantheon in Tbilisi to pay tribute to the former president.
The main symbol of Brussels, the Manneken Pis, was dressed in Georgian chokha [Georgian national clothes for men] on May 26, on Georgia’s Independence Day. During an event in Brussels Georgian Ambassador to the EU Natalie Sabanadze addressed public.
The Defence Minister of Turkey Hulusi Akar joined Georgian leaders in celebration on Independence Day on May 26. At the meetings with Georgian leaders, Minister Akar reiterated his country’s support for Georgia's territorial integrity as well as its aspirations to join NATO.
The US State Secretary Mike Pompeo has congratulated Georgia on its Independence Day, stating that the US and Georgia have a strong strategic partnership built upon shared values and a deep love of freedom, independence, and unity.
US President Donald Trump has congratulated Georgia on its Independence Day, stating that for decades the United States and Georgia ‘have enjoyed a strong partnership rooted in shared values and interests.’
Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia and President Salome Zurabishvili have congratulated Georgian citizens, emigrants and people living in the country’s two Russian-occupied regions of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali on Independence Day.
EU Ambassador to Georgia Carl Harzell has extended his congratulations to Georgia and its people on Independence Day and said that the European Union is proud to stand together with Georgia on this day, ‘as we continue standing up for her independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity.’
Countries from around the world congratulate Georgia on Independence Day. Different sights throughout the world were illuminated in white and red, the colors of the national flag of Georgia. The flag of Georgia was unfurled in the centre of Vilnius.
Today Georgia marks the 30th anniversary of the referendum that led to the country gaining independence from the Soviet Union.
The celebration of Independence Day of Georgia will see the central Freedom Square in the Georgian capital city of Tbilisi closed for six days, announces Tbilisi City Hall.
The remains of Georgia's national hero and commander-in-chief of the first Democratic Republic of Georgia, General Giorgi Kvinitadze, have been returned home from France. His remains will be laid to rest at the Mtatsminda Pantheon of Writers and Public Figures in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi on Independence Day on May 26.