Georgian PM says celebrating Europe Day on 9 May is symbolic for Europe’s modern history

Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze has described the celebration of Europe Day on 9 May as symbolic, saying the date marked the beginning of a new era in European history.

Speaking to journalists, Kobakhidze said 9 May represented a turning point when humanism became a defining principle for Europe following the turmoil of earlier historical periods.

“Europe went through many difficult historical processes before that, and from the late 1940s humanism became the main defining principle in Europe,” the PM said.

According to Kobakhidze, those principles formed the foundation of Europe’s development for decades.

“For 60 years these principles firmly underpinned Europe’s development. Recent trends are unfortunate, although we must remain hopeful that these tendencies will reverse and that Europe will once again follow the path of prosperity and the protection of identity, which is very important for each of us,” he stated.

Kobakhidze said Europe has always held special value for Georgia because the country traditionally viewed Europe as a guarantor of Christian and traditional values.

“We hope that the principles upon which Europe was founded after the 1940s will once again return to the European agenda and again become defining for Europe’s development,” the PM added.