Polish President Andrzej Duda took part in Georgia Independence Day day and assured the Georgian people that Poland will continue to be their reliable ally and promote Georgia’s accession to the EU and NATO. “Our unity and solidarity must stand against any imperial march,” Duda said, referring to Russia’s assertive stance in the region, and to his predecessor, president Lech Kaczyński, who visited Tibilisi in 2008 while Russian tanks were preparing an assault on the city. The Polish president visited the EU Observation Mission on the demarcation line between Georgia and South Ossetia. Duda called Russia an “aggressor” whose conduct called for a determined international response.
“Several thousand Russian soldiers, the entire garrison, are stationed in these areas. Plus the FSB forces. The inhabitants are in a dramatic situation because in 2019 this demarcation line was locked by the Russians and only in exceptional cases can you go to the other side. There are still about 40,000 people living there, before the war in 2008 it was 100,000 Georgians. They all are in a very difficult situation. The Russians want to call this area “a country” but it is not a separate country after all.
In places like this you can see that Russia is not a normal country but an aggressor. This requires action by the international community. Next year, Poland takes the chairmanship of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe. We will deal with it as in the same we will raise it at the forum of the UN General Assembly.” stated the Polish president in his speech.