“I would like to extend my condolences to everyone, because today this is our shared grief, which we are experiencing together. That is what matters most. Perhaps other things—protocol or different reasons—do not matter; it does not matter who stood where today, who entered and who could not. What mattered today was that we all stood together and expressed our feelings, our sorrow, and our pain over the Patriarch’s passing.

At the same time, we have great hope that he will help us in these very difficult times to preserve the unity that was achieved today—a unity that many do not like or do not want. I believe the Patriarch will truly give us the strength for this,” said the fifth President of Georgia, Salome Zurabishvili, in an interview with TV Pirveli.

Regarding whether she had communicated with the relevant authorities to attend the mourning ceremony, Zourabichvili stated that she did not have a pass and had no communication on the matter.

“I had no communication, no pass at all. If I had one, I would have been wherever it was possible to be. But I was here, in front of Sioni, and I am very happy even with that,” Zurabishvili told a TV Pirveli journalist.