Georgia marked the Independence Day and the centennial anniversary of the declaration of the Democratic Republic of Georgia with festivities and outdoor events in Tbilisi and other parts of the country.
On this day 100 years ago, Georgia proclaimed its independence, which was extinguished by the military invasion of the Bolshevik Red Army on February 25, 1921. The country declared its independence to be restored on April 9, 1991, based on the May 26, 1918, declaration.
The oath-taking of more than 350 recruits was held simultaneously at six locations across the country, including on the Freedom Square in Tbilisi, the main ceremony marking the day.
Georgian leaders and officials, as well as up to 20 high-level delegations, including the Presidents of Armenia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia and the European Commission, attended the ceremony in Tbilisi.
President Giorgi Margvelashvili, Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili, Parliament Speaker Irakli Kobakhidze and the seven presidents delivered remarks after the oath-taking.
Military hardware and armament, including the Javelin anti-armor missiles and those produced by the state-owned enterprise Delta, were displayed for public viewing on the Freedom Square in Tbilisi, as well as in other cities across the country.
U.S. soldiers from the 173rd Airborne Brigade and the U.S. Navy, as well as the honor guards from Germany, Turkey, Latvia, and Ukraine marched on the Freedom Square together with Georgian military personnel. The ceremony also included performances by the Lithuanian Armed Forces Band.
Later, the Georgian leaders and the visiting dignitaries convened in a roundtable conference titled “Cooperation for Prosperity – a Strategy for Future Centennial.” They also attended the reenactment of the first reading of the declaration of independence in the National Youth Palace (former seat of the Russian Empire’s governor generals for Caucasus) in Tbilisi, where the country’s national council declared its short-lived independence.
Over 100 individual events, including academic conferences, exhibitions and receptions, were organized to mark the day abroad, according to PM Giorgi Kvirikashvili’s Press Office.
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