Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili spoke to journalists in Paris on 13 June following his meeting with his French counterpart Nicolas Sarkozy. Saakashvili said that his conversation with the newly elected leader had convinced him that France would prove to be a strong ally for Georgia.

"We have always had general support from France, but now the situation has changed radically and this support has become more concrete in absolutely all areas. We now have a very strong ally in Europe. President Sarkozy is a European politician who truly has a position of great strength. I would say that he is a natural leader for Europe. He enjoys phenomenal support among the people of France, the kind which no French leader has had since General de Gaulle.

"Most importantly, he has an absolutely precise grasp of the fact that he must stake out a principled position concerning Georgia and concerning many other issues. Not a single government in Europe has taken such a position until now. We have felt general support from everyone and cooperated with everyone, but no-one has expressed such a concrete and resolute position," President Saakashvili said.

Press Office
of the President of Georgia