President Saakashvili said Georgia could only overcome challenges and achieve its true potential if the country “stands united as one.”

Saakashvili was speaking to 15,000 servicemen who paraded in downtown Tbilisi on May 26 to mark Independence Day.

“Today is the day of our unity. Our strength is in our unity… The only thing our enemy is dreaming of is to split us… Nothing or noone can defeat us if we stand united as one… We maintained our economy and became the number one reformer last year – when there were attempts to destroy our economy – because we managed to maintain unity,” Saakashvili said.

“Today we face huge challenges; but sometimes I have the impression that some of our citizens do not understand these challenges and tasks we face, although 99% do very well… We will overcome every challenge if we stand united as one.”
 
“We should know that our major strength is not only in this army and not only in the weapons we have and not only in the economic development… and not only in investments - we will have over USD 2 billion of foreign direct investment this year - our major strength is in our determination and unity,” he added.

Saakashvili stressed that Georgia was “a multi-ethnic state;” but there is only one nation – Georgia.

“And this nation consists of Georgian Azerbaijanis, Georgian Abkhazians, Georgian Ossetians, Georgian Armenians, etc,” he said.

“It is our responsibility to maintain Georgia, which is multi-ethnic and multi-confessional, which has been left to us by our ancestors, because multi-ethnicity is a wealth, religious diversity is a wealth,” Saakashvili added.

He said that currently Georgia had a responsibility to maintain Georgia's borders “as our forefathers left it for us” and a responsibility towards “our 500,000 compatriots who have been expelled from Abkhazia.”

“Not only ethnic Georgians; these are ethnic Ukrainians, ethnic Estonians, ethnic Jews, ethnic Armenians, ethnic Greeks and ethnic Abkhazians. We have a responsibility to return all of them to their homes [in Abkhazia],” Saakashvili said,

He also addressed residents of breakaway South Ossetian and told them in Ossetian: “We love you.”

“I want to salute our population in Tskhinvali, Java, Znauri, Akhalgori, in Didi and Patara Liakhvi gorges [in South Ossetia] and I want to tell them: Ossetians have not only been part of our history, but they have always been a heroic and important part of our history… They have been, they are and they will be part of our history in the future as well,” Saakashvili said.

He said that Georgia had many “allies and partners” throughout the world.

“And I want to express my special solidarity with the Ukrainian people… And I want to express special solidarity with the Estonian people, who were under huge political pressure in recent weeks and months and who have resisted this pressure,” Saakashvili said.