Georgia: The International community realised this year that it should have reacted in a more appropriate manner to Russia’s 2008 war in Georgia.” Juansher Burchuladze, The Defence Minister of Georgia, said.
This statement came on Monday, August 8, 2022, at the Mukhatgverdi Cemetery of Fallen Soldiers in the Georgian capital.
With these words, he was reiterating the statements of top Georgian officials, stating that a more powerful position against Russia’s aggression fourteen years ago could have averted the present hostilities in Ukraine.
In his remarks, the Georgian Defence Minister, Burchuladze, emphasised that the international community could show such a conscientious position “even now” by accelerating Georgia’s integration into the Euro-Atlantic space.
“First of all, today, at the Mukhatgverdi Cemetery of Fallen Soldiers, we honour our heroes. The Government of Georgia has pledged to continue offering care to these heroes’ families. Fourteen years after the August War, the civilised world probably understood this year that it should have maintained a more principled position [towards Russia’s aggression against Georgia].” The Georgian Defence Minister stated in his address at the Mukhatgverdi Cemetery of Fallen Soldiers
He added that he believes that this moral position can be expressed by the International Community even today, by accelerating Georgia’s integration into the European Union and other organisations or ensuring collective defence”, Burchuladze said.
In his comments earlier on Monday, Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili said that his Government had chosen a “peaceful, prudent” policy to restore Georgia’s territorial integrity and unify the country.
During the 2008 war between Georgia and Russia, One hundred and sixty-nine (169) service members and professionals of the Ministry of Defence were killed, along with eleven (11) employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
Additionally, two hundred and twenty-four (224) civilians also perished due to the war.
Around thirty thousand (30,000) citizens of Georgia were forced to abandon their homes in the now-occupied Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) region.
