The only area the pandemic could not slow down is politics, said the President of Georgia in her New Year address.

“The only area the pandemic could not slow down is politics! We had a difficult political year but here too, we managed to adopt constitutional changes and a new election code. We held elections, which the international community evaluated as fair and competitive. We have a Parliament.

The pandemic could not change at least one thing - the occupation and our pain. Today, the people who live in our occupied territories are even more burdened after an already extremely difficult situation, but this showed how necessary the promotion of solidarity and of finding common ways, ways to overcome the occupation are. Yet the main achievement is that despite the difficult conditions, despite the occupation and severe regional conflicts, this small country has been able to maintain stability, resilience, is self-reliant, and has repeatedly shown to others that it does not give up so easily.

Probably a difficult winter is ahead of us and the challenges will not be over. But we already know that we will persevere on this road. We also know what we need on this path - mutual trust, attention, solidarity, and unity! We must overcome alienation. We must reject hatred and confrontation. 2021 must be a year of trust.

I wish everyone, whether inside or outside the country, a happy new year, good health, courage, success, and unity!”, - Salome Zourabichvili.