Giorgi Kvirikashvili and Mike Pence in Tbilisi. July 31, 2017. Photo: gov.ge

“The President of the United States sent me here with a very simple message - to you, to your government and to the good and courageous people of Georgia: we are with you, we stand with you, for your freedom and for our shared values,” Mike Pence, Vice President of the United States, told Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili on July 31.

Vice President Pence made the statement on the first day of his two-day visit to Georgia at an official dinner hosted by PM Kvirikashvili at Mtatsminda Park, one of the hallmarks of Tbilisi overlooking the capital.

“The people of Georgia throughout the millennia have proved themselves to be courageous, independent, people willing to fight for what they believe in,” the Vice President also said, adding that he has “every confidence that the bonds of character, the commitment for independence and freedom will only grow stronger under your leadership and leadership of President Donald Trump.”

In his remarks at the dinner, Prime Minister Kvirikashvili said the United States “has a dedicated friend in Georgia, a stable geopolitical ally and a strategic partner, a partner with common values and shared global security priorities,” which aspires to retake its “rightful place in the family of European nations.”

“We Georgians cherish friendship between our two nations, and the enduring values that bind us together,” the Prime Minister also said and added that the United States has been “Georgia’s premier strategic ally” in the period since it regained independence.

As part of the visit on August 1, the U.S. Vice President will hold bilateral talks with Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili and meet with participants of the Noble Partner military exercise.