Translated material
Georgian hero
Mikheil Saakashvili awarded the deceased President of Poland
This week, Mikheil Saakashvili will interrupt his visit to the United States, where he is attending a nuclear security conference, and head to Poland for the funeral of President Lech Kaczynski. In an interview with CNN, the Georgian leader called the deceased “a friend of Georgia, a great politician and a brilliant person.” The administration of the Georgian president added to Vremya Novostei that Saakashvili “lost a personal friend who most supported Georgia in the international arena.”This support was most clearly demonstrated on August 12, 2008, the last day of the armed conflict around South Ossetia. Lech Kaczynski flew to Tbilisi to support the Georgians. Then the President of Poland persuaded the presidents of Ukraine, Lithuania, Estonia and the Prime Minister of Latvia to fly with him. All these politicians came out to the protesters on Rustaveli Avenue, and Lech Kaczynski passionately declared that we must say “no!” "Georgia's northern neighbor." According to him, it is necessary to ensure that “the Russian empire collapses, this is in our interests.”
That day, the President of Poland spoke at a rally. The Georgian government told VN that “at that time there was a threat of a Russian attack on the plane of the Polish President, but he refused to turn the plane around.” Soon after, Saakashvili awarded Kaczynski the Order of St. George, which was established in 2004 for foreigners for services to Georgia. The first person to receive such an award was the then US President George W. Bush, who visited Tbilisi in 2005.
Kaczynski's next visit to Georgia took place on November 23, 2008, on the fifth anniversary of the Rose Revolution. Saakashvili and Kaczynski suddenly appeared at the border of South Ossetia. Suddenly, machine gun fire rang out in the twilight, the heads of state turned around their motorcades and hastily evacuated. Georgia accused the Russian and Ossetian military of “provocation.” In Moscow and Tskhinvali, on the contrary, they placed responsibility on the presidents of Georgia and Poland, who risked appearing in the conflict zone without warning. The Polish media in those days wrote a lot about the fact that they at least did not understand the actions of their president, who first attracted real fire and then criticism.
This year, Lech Kaczynski was expected in Georgia in mid-January along with some other presidents for the energy summit, but in the end the forum was held at a lower level, since the heads of state did not arrive for various reasons.
April 11 was declared a day of mourning in Georgia. The President of Poland was posthumously awarded the title of National Hero of Georgia. The last person to receive such an honor was another personal friend of Saakashvili, US Senator John McCain - in January of this year. Candles are burning at the Polish Embassy in Georgia, Tbilisi residents come with flowers and words of condolences.