“I think this is probably the most challenging time after the Second World War. Although we had very difficult days back in 2008, said Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili addressing the Global Security Forum (GLOBSEC) in Bratislava, Slovakia.

“Let me remind everyone that the first war was in Georgia. Today, maybe some people forgot that Georgia’s 20% of territories are occupied by Russia. And in 2008, when after the war Russia didn’t leave out territory. On the contrary, they stayed. They built two military bases on our soil, on our territory and this is the result of that devastating war,” he said.

Answering the question if the war was an act of aggression or unprovoked aggression, Irakli Garibashvili said:

“I don’t want to go into details about that war because we have our own views. I mean, if we were in the government, if this government, our government was in power, I think, we would do everything possible to avoid that war. Georgia is a small nation with only a 4 million population, well-trained, well-equipped, and with an experienced army, but still small.

So, therefore, I think it’s in every government’s interest, especially when – we are a small country, we are not a member of the EU or NATO when you don’t have any security guarantees. So, that war, I don’t want to go into details again, but, that war was devastating for us and the result is that 20% of our territories were occupied.

And let me also remind everyone that I think at that time, the world did not pay enough attention to the aggression of Russia. No one imposed a sanction on Russia. What’s the difference? For us, what is the difference? Our war was our war, right? The war that we’re seeing now in Ukraine is catastrophic, of course. Right. Thousands of people are dying every day. And we don’t see any sign that this one will end soon,” he said.