In show of importance the Georgian authorities attach to a recent European Parliament resolution on Georgia, President Saakashvili awarded Polish MEP Krzysztof Lisek with St. George’s Victory Order for his role in passing of the resolution.

The document, calling on the key EU institutions to, among other things, recognize Abkhazia and South Ossetia as “occupied territories” by Russia, is based on a report prepared by MEP Lisek from the group of the European People's Party.

“This document is really historic,” President Saakashvili said at the award ceremony in his residence in Tbilisi in presence of MEP Lisek. “Our nation knows very well how to express gratitude. This is exactly the case, when we should express our gratitude towards you. Of course this gratitude also belongs to the European Parliament, which you represent.”

"This [resolution] is very important voice of almost whole European Parliament. We see Georgia as the European state, we see Georgia as the state, as a country showing all European values and principles, including democracy, human rights and so on," MEP Lisek said.

The St. George’s Victory Order is awarded for “special contributions in Georgia's victories.”

Among the foreign dignitaries who have been awarded with this order by Georgia are former U.S. President George W. Bush; French President Nicolas Sarkozy; former Czech President Vaclav Havel; U.S. Senator Joe Lieberman; French Minister for Cooperation Henri de Raincourt.