We have neither strong institutions, nor respect for institutions, nor justice, said the President of Georgia, Salome Zurabishvili, at the event organized by Eka Beselia's party, where recommendations for justice reform were presented.

According to Zurabishvili, "agreement on justice reform is a way for us to do what we don't know how to do - that is depolarization."

As the President noted, "the main thing is to reach a consensus, without which everything will be in vain."

"We didn't expect the candidate application, the date was 2024, but nothing was ready for that yet, and it kind of happened, and we should be grateful for that. Even today, the situation in Ukraine is very serious, the bombs do not stop, and also, today the UN Security Council meeting was held, and it can be seen how serious this situation is. I want to honor the 27th Georgian who died in Ukraine. They fight of their own free will and are not representatives of the state, but they are representatives of Georgian dignity.

In these 12 recommendations, it is clear that justice and bringing this reform to the end is the main thing and it is the main thing because it is the means, the way for us to get out of the Soviet system. There is no other way, everything else will be based on this. Protecting human rights, protecting business, setting European protection standards, combating discrimination, determining whether or not wiretapping are necessary (by the way, I'd like to say that I lacked your support a little when I vetoed a very un-European law.

It doesn't apply to everyone, but it applies to some), establishing the inviolability of private property, that is, everything that we generally call democracy - everything goes through justice. If there is no justice, then nothing is protected. An agreement on justice reform is a way for us to do what we don't know how to do—depolarization. Not only we do not know, but no one knows, the European guidelines and requirements do not specifically say what and how to do, but it is clear that this means that we should be able to agree with each other on how to proceed with the reform of justice. The main thing is to reach a consensus, without which everything will be in vain, because then we will not be able to agree on anything, and this agreement means that all parties will be able to put the interests of Georgia before the interests of the parties. Very often in recent history, unfortunately, we have not been able to do this, and this is what hinders us, and this is the request, not because someone wrote it down, in some recommendation or someone addressed us in this regard. This is ours to do. If there is no minimum consensus, the country cannot develop. Today, there may be polarization in other countries and the same procedures are taking place there, but those countries are beyond that line, they are already in that democratic world, and for them there is a main defense mechanism, which is the strength of institutions. They have dams that protect against any polarization, so that it does not turn into something else, but we do not have it, neither strong institutions, nor respect for institutions, nor principles, including justice. Justice is not a foreign fruit to us. It comes from Georgian traditions since forever," Zurabishvili said.

source: IPN