Today we are erecting a monument to our glorious king, who, after his native Telavi, has been waiting for this day for exactly half a century, - the Chairman of the Parliament of Georgia Shalva Papuashvili said in his speech at the opening ceremony of the monument to Erekle II.

As he noted in his speech, for three centuries since the birth of King Erekle, all true Georgians have worshiped and paid tribute to the king, who forever remained in the history of Georgia as a symbol of struggle, heroism, selfless service and building.

"He led our country through the most difficult era and devoted himself to its service to the end. King Erekle waged a great, continuous, sixty-year war for the salvation and unification of Georgia. War with the sword, war with labor, war with intelligence. Today's ceremonial opening of the monument is symbolic insofar as today, just like three hundred years ago, the main national task, goal and spirit of the Georgian people is the freedom and unification of the country. In this historical mission of the Georgian nation, King Erekle should be both an example and an inspiration to bring the common national cause he started to the end.

King Erekle is a symbol of the real Georgia. The Georgia whose ruler should be driven by the only interest - his own nation, his own state, his own faith. Georgia first of all - without loyalty to this national interest, the government cannot govern, people cannot love it, the enemy will not hold it accountable and history will not appreciate it," said Shalva Papuashvili.