"The chance we have been given is also a challenge" - Zurabishvili's address to the European Council

The Administration of the President of Georgia has published the address of Salome Zurabishvili, in which she addressed the European Council the night before. We offer Zurabishvili's statement without changes:

"First, I want to convey to you on behalf of the Georgian people on what happened today ... there may be some disappointment that we are not in the top three. But I think we are analyzing what happened today, what Georgia has been waiting for for many years, inevitably since independence - since 1991, but perhaps earlier in other forms - that is to join the European family and to embrace this European perspective.

I remember different steps that Georgia has taken on this European path and every time, whether it was the Neighborhood Initiative, the Eastern Partnership or the Association Agreement, it was always repeated that this was everything but membership, that there was no path to membership, that it was a parallel path. Today we see that our path now clearly lies towards membership and return to the European family, and this is a very historic step.

At the same time, I understand, the Georgian people understand and I think all of us, including the government, should understand that the chance that we have been given is also a challenge. The challenge is to take seriously the next six months the path of reforms that we have been on so far, although some steps may not have been taken in time, and some may have been taken slowly.

All of this needs to be corrected. We have until the end of this year, we promise that we will have candidate status by the end of the year if we do what is expected of us.

I think the people of Georgia two days ago (on the street) showed that they are ready. Not only am I, as President, ready, but I think I have a job to do to see what our next steps will be. So you can count on me, you can count on the Georgian people, and I want to believe that we can count on the government to take all the necessary steps. This is a responsibility to the Georgian people, to our history, to our children, so I'm sure we will take this challenge very seriously and work on it.

We know it's going to be a pretty tough job, but I also know that I can count on your support, Mr. President, and those around this table, because you are giving us a chance.

I don't want to end my speech without congratulating Ukraine and Moldova, especially Ukraine, because Ukraine led this struggle, and if not for the exceptional unity of the Ukrainian people in the face of aggression, this great historic step probably would not have been taken. So I think we should start with gratitude. And then unity, unity among the three countries, working for the reforms that each of us has to achieve, and unity among our people - the depolarization that I fight for and for which you give me great encouragement here.

So thank you again, and I want to congratulate you all, because today you are taking a historic step toward uniting Europe in its larger configuration, in which the Black Sea should return to its function as a bridge, as it was in ancient times. And, of course, the security, the cooperation, the stability of the Black Sea on both sides requires democratic and European countries, and I want to see that way for my country, that's the way I want to see it for Europe. "The appeal states.

Recall that last night the European Union gave Ukraine and Moldova candidate status and Georgia a European perspective.