President of Georgia Salome Zurabishvili delivered a speech at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) in Strasbourg.

President of Georgia, as Head of State, which chairs the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, talked about priorities of Georgia’s chairmanship in an address to PACE lawmakers.

According to Zurabishvili, development and progress of the 21^st century have brought new challenges and the European countries had to stand together to tackle the problematic issues in all multinational formats.

“We need to stand strong in our commitment to jointly define what needs to be done. We need to promise that dialogue will be the only tool to debate how we do it. We need to guarantee that all our decision and actions will be based on the principles of rule of law, human rights and democracy. Our individual dedication will make the Council of Europe stronger, its institutions effective and members successful,” President of Georgia said.

President Zurabishvili said that Georgia passed a long way after it became a member of the Council of Europe 20 years ago. Membership of the Council of Europe marked the start of the path towards the transformation of Georgian society, the liberation of the individuals, the democratization of the political system, consolidation of democratic institutions and of a state based on the rule of law.

Zurabishvili underlined that the path corresponded to the free choice of the Georgian nation, “a choice that has never faltered, and which is to this day inspiring us and bringing us ever closer to the European integration.”

“Georgia has succeeded to turn itself from a post-soviet state, into an emerging ever stronger and vibrant (sometimes some would say too vibrant) democracy; Georgia has turned into a modern European state with stronger institutions, free economy, sustained economic growth, developing social and healthcare systems, all in an environment of stability. This is a country that managed to pave its way towards the European Union and NATO, despite “everything” and everything it was: frozen conflicts and open war, occupied territories, threats and attempts to destabilization,” President claimed.