France is a country that showed its solidarity and support in 2008 and contributed to the ceasefire, - Salome Zourabichvili, President of Georgia, said at a briefing in Paris after meeting with French President Emanuel Macron.

Salome Zourabichvili thanked the French President for sending ex-President Nicolas Sarkozy as a representative of France for her inauguration.

"France is a country that showed its solidarity and support in 2008 and contributed to the ceasefire at that time. We might have been in a different situation if France and President Sarkozy had not helped us. I would like to thank Mr. President for sending Mr. Sarkozy as a representative of France for my inauguration. By the way, the population of Georgia received him with applause and it was a sign of how grateful the population of Georgia are for what France did in 2008," Salome Zourabichvili said.

The President is convinced that the reason why the Georgian people elected her is that she can play a role in bringing Georgia closer to Europe.

"Because of this past, we have to make our relationship and friendship more intense. I am deeply convinced that the population of Georgia elected me as a European president who can play this role between Georgia and Europe, who can bring Georgia closer to Europe, until we become a full member of Europe and the European Union," Salome Zourabichvili said.