The Georgian army is the main defender and the main pillar of the state. Protecting the borders begins with protecting the dignity of the nation and the state, Georgia's President Salome Zurabishvili said during her annual speech in the Parliament.

She said no one government can pretend to be sole responsible for such progress, while all successive governments have had their share. In the end, these achievements have to be attributed to the whole society.

“But measuring the progress will not be sufficient if we do not recover trust in ourselves and do not start believing again that we can forge our future. To re-appropriate our national ideology, a concept that was obliterated in Soviet times, means in reality that we need strong roots in the past in order to build a strong future,” the President said.

She said a united country needs to rest on common values that can cement social cohesion and hence, the nation.

“The Georgian Army is the depositary of such common values. The Georgian Army has the highest mission to both defend the State and be its most solid foundation. The defense of our territory starts with the defense and the respect of the values of the nation and of the state, within and outside our borders.

Just a few days ago, on the 25th of February, I visited the National Defense Academy and the Military Lyceum. I was met there by the spirit with which our younger generations should be educated and which should nourish society. The national spirit and confidence, without which no nation can exist, was overwhelmingly present in those young military men and women,” the President said.