Speaker Papuashvili: Were it not for 300,000 Georgians, there would be no EU and no Europe Day

“I hope that the mistake made by the EU Embassy last year will be rectified this year, as on May 9, Georgia commemorates Victory over Fascism,” Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili told Georgian journalists in Montenegro.

Papuashvili stressed that it is of the utmost importance that Georgia’s contribution to Europe’s peaceful present should always be properly acknowledged and honoured.

“Last year, we witnessed something I also commented upon at the time. On May 9, the EU Embassy held its Europe Day celebrations without once, not a single time, mentioning Victory over Fascism Day, and without once acknowledging the contribution of the 300,000 Georgians who gave their lives in that war. Georgians, without whom those people would not today have the privilege of living within an organisation called the European Union. Had it not been for the hundreds of thousands of Georgians who fought in the Great Patriotic War, had it not been for those 300,000 Georgians, there would be no European Union and no Europe Day whatsoever.

Georgia’s contribution to Europe’s peaceful present must always be recognised and valued. I hope that the oversight committed last year by the EU Embassy will be rectified this year, on May 9, Georgia commemorates Victory over Fascism. I trust that foreign ambassadors and guests present in Georgia will show respect for the country in which they find themselves, for the occasions which the host country observes, and that tomorrow, at their gathering, they will pay fitting tribute to the 9th of May and to Victory over Fascism,” declared Papuashvili.