PRESIDENT SAAKASHVILI: Madam Secretary, I will speak in English (inaudible). They have heard me already speak in Georgian many times.
It is an immense pleasure to welcome you here again today in Georgia.
You have always been an outstanding friend of our nation. I want, in
the name of Georgian people, our multiethnic nation, to express our deep
gratitude to you, Hillary, for your personal leadership on all our
issues and your longstanding support for Georgia’s democracy.
Ladies and gentlemen, if Georgia is today an independent state
progressing at a good path on its way to the EU and NATO, it is, of
course, first thanks to the Georgian people’s commitment and courage.
But the support of the United States of America throughout all these 20
years, and in particular the support of President Obama and Secretary
Clinton in the recent period, was instrumental, fundamental for our
survival and our continued success.
I want to commend here the firm commitment of the U.S. to our
sovereignty, our territorial integrity within our legitimate borders.
Its constant help in our reform process, its firm denunciation of the
illegal occupation of our territories, and it repeated calls for the
rights of hundreds of thousands, around 500,000 internally displaced
persons of Georgians of all ethnic and religious backgrounds, to go back
to their houses. This American policy allows the Georgian democratic
sphere to overcome key challenge as it achieves striking results. The
partnership between our two nations is made from shared values and for
its purpose – standing up for freedom and also of its common interests.
Secretary Clinton’s visit, the strategic partnership charter meeting,
and the discussions held today constitute another step forward in the
constant enhancing of our cooperation. These talks are following the
meeting held with President Obama at the White House in January – really
very interesting talks and meeting – they allowed us to progress on all
objectives that were set last January. Our security cooperation is on
the right track. Today’s ceremony with the coast guard was a good symbol
of our progress in that matter, the (inaudible) process of enhancing
our self-defense capacity is now real and concrete. The U.S. is
committed to it, and the forward steps were discussed today.
I welcome our (inaudible) close cooperation in order to ensure the
irreversibility of the Georgian democratic reforms. My government is
committed to have free and fair parliamentary elections this October.
Georgia’s public attachment to democracy (inaudible) is expressed in the
Rose Revolution, and (inaudible) ever since, so I am sure that these
elections will express the free will of the Georgian people.
And I also welcome (inaudible) support to our request for
international observation missions. We really want to have as many
legitimate observers in place as we can get to make the transparent –
elections as transparent, as fair, as trustworthy as we can get. Your
support, Madam Secretary, for my government calls toward minorities and
to our commitment to an open, democratic, and multiethnic society is
essential.
Progress on our people-to-people relations is good. More Georgians
now travel to the U.S., including for study, and we have thousands of
America’s teachers teaching English to Georgian kids here. We also would
be – we are also grateful for the support for our policies of
engagement of the Georgian citizens living in the occupied territories.
President Obama mentioned in January the prospect of a free trade
agreement between the U.S. and Georgia. That has made Georgia the only
country in Europe that might have eventually free trade agreement with
the United States – quite a big privilege and thrill to get there.
I welcome the concrete process of high-level dialogue that has
started since then and that will allow us to progress toward that
amazing goal, which, as the American president has put, are in the
mutual interests of the American and Georgian business.
Finally, I want to thank you, Madam Secretary, for your
Administration’s leadership and your personal leadership of the decided
question of our integration into Euro-Atlantic alliance. The last summit
in Chicago was an important step forward toward that process for
Georgia. The language of the communiqué, the meeting of the 28 allies
with the four aspirant countries that put Georgia in the same group as
the three Balkan states, and the words you pronounced during the
meetings on enlargement perspectives and talking to them at length about
Georgia’s continued reform and progress and success showed to everybody
that Georgia was closer than ever to fulfill its Euro-Atlantic
aspirations. Your words in Chicago were like music to the ears of my
people, I can tell you right now. I know that. We need for that to keep
up the momentum for the course and to count on our allies’ commitment.
We are confident of both, in a large part thanks to your unwavering
friendship.
Thank you again. It’s a great honor to host you here.
SECRETARY CLINTON: Thank you very much, Mr. President, and it
is a great pleasure to be back in Georgia, and particularly to be here
on the Black Sea and to see all of the development taking place in
Batumi. When I was last here in Tbilisi, you showed me posters of
everything that was happening in Batumi and urged me to come see for
myself, and I’m very pleased that I have this opportunity to do that.
The partnership between Georgia and the United States reflects the
energy, the entrepreneurship, and the dynamism of our people and
societies. More than that, our relationship delivers results. You can
see that just from what we have achieved in the past few weeks.
This morning, we held the third annual plenary session of our
Strategic Partnership Commission, covering topics from bolstering peace
and security to promoting global economic growth and deepening
democratic values. We confirmed plans for a new agreement to help our
scientific communities collaborate more closely.
We also discussed the Millennium Challenge Corporation’s plan to move
forward with its second compact with Georgia, a show of confidence in
Georgia’s future. Reforming and modernizing Georgia’s defense
establishment is also one of our shared priorities. Earlier today, I
attended the commissioning of a coast guard vessel that the United
States and Georgia refurbished together to help Georgia defend against
threats from terrorism, drugs, and human trafficking.
We also discussed Georgia’s commitment to the ISAF operations in
Afghanistan, including your pledge to help sustain the Afghan National
Security Force after the 2014 transition. Georgian troops fight bravely
alongside American forces in Afghanistan, and we greatly honor their
courage and sacrifice. Georgia is already the largest per capita
contributor of troops to our efforts in Afghanistan, and we thank you
for sending a second battalion which will make you the largest non-NATO
contributor.
We have also agreed this year on several new areas of defense
cooperation. The United States will provide training and support for
Georgian defense forces to better monitor your coasts and your skies. We
will help upgrade Georgia’s utility helicopter fleet so it can more
easily transport supplies and people throughout your country. We are
also going to help Georgia give its officers the 21
st century
training they need for today’s changing missions. With these efforts,
Georgia will be a stronger international partner with an improved
capacity for self-defense.
Of course, Georgia’s long-term security and prosperity will depend in
large part on the quality of your democracy. And this is a moment of
great opportunity for your country. The United States will stand with
the Georgian people as you take the next steps to strengthen the rights,
freedom, and opportunities of all your citizens. Every Georgian
deserves to live in a tolerant, democratic, inclusive society.
Today, I met with leaders of opposition parties and discussed their
vital role in deepening Georgia’s democratic development. The United
States believes competing energies and ideas drive the democratic
process. Civic activism, open debate, a level playing field, citizens’
access to information are all vital as you move toward parliamentary
elections and then presidential elections. We expect Georgia will hold
free and fair elections this fall, and then complete a democratic
transfer of power in 2013. And we believe that every party and every
candidate should respect the political process, and we look forward to
welcoming a strong relationship with those that the Georgian people
choose.
Let me also say, as both President Obama and I have repeated many
times before, the United States remains steadfast in our commitment to
the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Georgia within its
internationally recognized borders. Today we also discussed ways Georgia
can reach out to the people of Abkhazia and South Ossetia regions,
including providing status-neutral travel documents and identification
cards. Soon U.S. Embassies and consulates around the world will accept
the status-neutral travel document for any resident from these regions
who chooses to use them for travel or study in the United States. This
would be a strong step toward reconciliation that supports a peaceful
and just resolution of the conflict.
Finally, when President Saakashvili met with President Obama in the
Oval Office earlier this year, one of the key issues they discussed was
how to increase trade and investment between our countries. And just
last week we launched our new High-Level Trade and Investment Dialogue.
This group will explore a range of mechanisms to continue strengthening
trade relations between our countries, including the possibility of a
free trade agreement between Georgia and the United States, an updated
investment agreement, and other measures that could facilitate trade and
investments.
This is a relationship that gets things done and has for 20 years, because after all, Mr. President, we commemorate the 20
th
year of our diplomatic relations. We’ve seen a lot of change in that
time. Georgia has moved from a closed country under communist rule to an
active member of the Open Government Partnership. We are meeting in a
building, the Public Service Hall, that is a testament to the positive
changes that Georgia has made. And I would like to say as someone who
has the honor of traveling the world, so many countries, particularly
new and struggling democracies, are looking to Georgia. They want to
know how Georgia has accomplished so much in such a short period of
time. I look forward to seeing where the next 20 years take you.
Now before I conclude, I’d like to take a moment to send
congratulations to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth on behalf of the American
people. For 60 years, the American people have admired her strength,
her resilience, and her commitment to freedom and human dignity for all
people. We join her subjects and people around the world in celebrating
Her Majesty’s historic Diamond Jubilee.
So thank you once again, Mr. President, for your friendship and to
the people of Georgia for the strong partnerships between our people and
our governments. This is an exciting time in the history of Georgia,
and we want to see you go from strength to strength and continue to
improve the lives of the Georgia people as well as serve as a model for
people everywhere. Thank you.
PRESIDENT SAAKASHVILI: Madam Secretary, we don’t want to be –
thank you so much for these very kind and supportive words. We don’t
want to be left out, so we’ll join in your congratulations to Her
Majesty the Queen and all the best wishes and wish her another hundred
years of her very fruitful reign. And by the way, when you talk about
(inaudible) Public Hall, on the right there you see the University – the
American university that is being built in Batumi. And I can tell you
the joke with this: If you go and look at this building now as it is,
you would never believe it, but (inaudible) the highest building in the
Caucasus, the tallest building in Caucasus, and actually, it will be the
university that’s a symbol of democracy. And it shall be not just
another university, but an American university. UCLA and other major
American universities are right now organizing (inaudible). It was first
ever American – fully American university in post-Soviet state because –
there are some others, but they are not really run fully by American
universities. And it will be here. And it was assisted by American
Government through Millennium Challenge Corporation program. So we’re
immensely proud and all of you are invited to the opening in September.
(Laughter.)
Anyway, now you’re invited (inaudible). (Laughter.)
Yes. I’m not running the press conference (inaudible). (Laughter.)
MODERATOR: Natia Gogsadze Rustavi
SECRETARY CLINTON: Wait, wait, wait, wait.
MODERATOR: Would like to ask in Georgian.
QUESTION: (Via interpreter) Natia Gogsadze's Rustavi 2. Madam
Secretary of State, very soon we will have parliamentary elections in
Georgia. And on the other hand, as we know, Russian Federation tries to
organize its military exercise, military training will be coinciding
with our elections. On the other hand, Mr. Putin made a statement and he
said that Russia is interested in the results of the Georgian election.
Therefore, there is certain kind of concern in our country about
external intervention. To what extent is this threat possible? What is
your take? What is your opinion about it?
SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, I believe that the 2012 parliamentary
elections and the 2013 presidential elections are really in the hands
of the Georgian people. I believe that they will be a crucial indicator
of the progress Georgia has made on its democratic path, and the
president and I, as I discussed also earlier with the prime minister,
have expressed our hopes that this will be a model election that will
provide a competitive electoral environment.
Now, I think the single best thing Georgia can do to advance your
security, your prosperity, your democracy, your international
reputation, is to hold free and fair elections that result in a fully
democratic transition. And we praise Georgia’s initiative to open its
early electoral process to a range of international observers, because
monitoring is a key to ensuring fairness and transparency.
So yes, there will be military maneuvers, but the really important
event of the fall will occur inside Georgia as the people of Georgia
cast their votes. I cannot think of a stronger message that could be
sent to anyone anywhere in the world than that. And so we will clearly
continue to consult closely with the Georgian Government to ensure that
we are standing with you, but the most critical event is not another
country’s military’s exercises – it is Georgia’s elections. And that
will speak louder than any military exercise could ever do about what
Georgians stand for, your resilience, your strength, your commitment to
democracy.
MODERATOR: Thank you. Reuters wanted to ask question, right? Yes, please.
QUESTION: President Saakashvili, can you categorically rule
out the possibility that you might seek the prime ministership? And
Secretary Clinton, do you believe that President Putin’s leaving the
presidency to become prime minister and then returning to the Kremlin as
president has set a bad precedent?
PRESIDENT SAAKASHVILI: Well, first of all, I have to say Madam
Secretary also was talking about this. The democratic transfer of power
is a normal part of any democracy. And by the way, Georgia – it has
already been happening for those of you who have been watching, because
we moved part of the central government’s power, the presidential
powers, to the directly elected mayor of Tbilisi, to elected city
councils all around the country. We are continuing towards
decentralization of that process, remove parliamentary (inaudible) on
the posture, and actually that also means that more power is to be
shifting to the regions from the – and powers of the regions. And I
think Georgia has developed a number of very important institutions like
(inaudible) that make – that – which will raise focus on institutions
rather than all of its individual personalities. In this future
political process, it is hugely important what the institution will do.
And since they won, I was in the office, I was offered this brilliant
opportunity to turn myself into lame duck voluntarily, especially
considering what kind of reforms we have to achieve and complete by the
end of my second term. I’m certainly not going to cede to this
temptation to do it, even for such a wonderful agency as Reuters.
But as I said, the process is there. Georgian democracy is getting
stronger. And ultimate that matters most of all to me and basically to
my nation as well. Ultimately, people’s choice is the most respected one
that – and I think that will be – ultimately it will make the whole
difference, indeed. Today it made a difference; it will make difference
in October; it will make difference next year and in the future.
SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, I’m not going to speculate on
hypotheticals, and I’m not going to comment on the reality of another
country’s leader right now. But let me just emphasize how important it
is that the decisions that are made by Georgia’s leaders and citizens
demonstrate a firm commitment to the building of democratic
institutions. I think that’s what the president was just saying, that in
any democracy, institutions have to be more important than people.
Individual leaders should come and go, but institutions should be
strengthened. And one of the ways of doing that is to have an election
first for the parliament, then for the presidency, that are universally
regarded as valid. That will speak volumes about where Georgia is on
your path to a sustainable democracy.
MODERATOR: Thank you.
Please.
QUESTION: (Via interpreter) Lika Beraia, TV company Imedi --
SECRETARY CLINTON: Wait just one second. I’m sorry.
Okay.
QUESTION: (Via interpreter) Lika Beraia, TV company Imedi. I
have a question to Madam Secretary of State. Following the Chicago
summit, Russia expressed its negative position regarding intention of
NATO, and in this context it’s (inaudible) negative, particularly with
regard to Georgia. Some analysts say that Russia has the right to use
so-called veto. Do you agree with this possibility?
SECRETARY CLINTON: As we stated at the Chicago NATO summit,
the United States and all NATO allies support Georgia’s aspirations for
NATO membership, and we reaffirmed the Bucharest decision and all
subsequent decisions. We continue to work closely with Georgia both
bilaterally and through the NATO-Georgia Commission to support the goals
that Georgia has set for itself in its annual national program. And we
remain committed to supporting Georgia’s sovereignty and territorial
integrity, and we strongly support the principle that all countries,
including Georgia, should be free to choose their own alliances,
including their security alliances.
MODERATOR: One more question from Americans. Yes, please.
QUESTION: Madam Secretary, the leaders of China and Russia met
today in Beijing and agreed to cooperate together more closely at the
United Nations. President Hu said that this would enable them to put the
global order on a more fair and more rational course.
What is your reaction to that? And is this a setback for your efforts to get a unified response to the crisis in Syria?
SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, I think it’s pretty clear that we all
have to intensify our efforts to speed a political transition, and that
has to be the main focus of our diplomacy and our work, both with each
other, within the international community, at the United Nations, and
other settings, even as we increase political and economic pressure on
the Assad regime. And I think it’s clear to anyone, I think it’s hard to
reach any other fair and reasonable conclusion that after what we have
seen in the last 10 days, particularly the massacre in Houla, that peace
and human dignity will not be possible in Syria without political
change. So I will look forward to continuing to work with my colleagues
tomorrow in Istanbul. I will then be seeing Joint Special Envoy Kofi
Annan in Washington on Friday, and we believe there is a way forward and
we’re going to continue to pursue that. And we invite the Russians and
the Chinese to be part of the solution of what is happening in Syria.
MODERATOR: Thank you, all of you. Thank you for this opportunity. Thank you, Madam Secretary.
SECRETARY CLINTON: Thank you. Thank you.
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