Well, regressively I have to use the prompting notes or the script notes which I prepared in advance. Thank God that I haven't lost the script notes, or nobody has stolen it from me. First let me salute you all. I find it symbolic that I have a chance to address participants of a meeting organized under the aegis of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty at a time when Prague is hosting a historic summit of the North Atlantic Alliance. And I will say already now that I am very delighted that most of you here in this hall are young people and everything that we are doing we are doing for you, for your future, and placing our hopes on you. Isn't Radio Liberty one of those who have labored for decades to provide countries like Georgia with a right to make a free choice? Now having taken the advantage of this right we arrived in Prague to make our modest contribution to the construction of the transformed Euro-Atlantic space.

Permit me also to say how delighted I am to be in one of the most beautiful European cities, in Prague. Had we met here some 15 years ago? Indeed, and in fact I was a frequent guest here. Given the political realities of those times, we might have said we were in Eastern Europe. Much has changed since and Prague indeed appeared to have moved westward. It's not only because the Czech Republic has gained NATO membership and is also about to join the European Union, it's also because Europe itself has also moved eastward and kind of fit into its legitimate geographic boundaries.

I promise that my remarks will not come to resemble a geography lesson. Yet before I pass on to other subjects, I would like to remind you that the Caucasus, of which Georgia is part, is in Southeastern Europe. Saying this to an educated audience like yours may be redundant, however, regretfully as it may be I have on many occasions witnessed how some major international TV companies...in their weather forecast footages fully disregard the Caucasus. The region seems to be neither in Europe, nor in the Middle East, or elsewhere in Eurasia. So if not for our firm knowledge where we came from and who we really are, we would be most likely to experience a mild form of an identity crisis. But, then again, from the times of antiquity onward in terms of culture and mentality, Georgia has always been part of Europe and then even during those periods when the nation had to live by the rules of various imposed ideologies, people never gave up their aspiration to regain freedom to praise their habitual way of life as well as to build a new state on the foundation crafted out of the great humanistic ideas of the European enlightenment.

After gaining independence despite the infernal hardships the nation had to live through -- these were civil wars, ethno-political conflicts, devastated infrastructure, and acute shortages of energy -- the will of the Georgian people to build a free society has never been called into question. Setting a goal like this where the tradition of pluralism in the region is minimal, seemed a nonsensical whim to many. No wonder, indeed, since in the previous century many nations had liberated themselves from either an internal or an external repressive regime, set out to build a free society in it, and got down to business. But they often got it wrong. Even with a democratic constitution in place, things still ended with one man in power or yet another in a bloody civil war. During the last decade, there were several times when Georgia stood at the brink of similar developments. The Georgian people have showed during them an indispensable quality for anyone who seeks freedom. According to the Georgian Constitution, my term in office expires in two and a half years, regretfully. It is both a lot and a little. In the period of time that is left I intend to do all in my power to make the greatest accomplishment, to bring freedom in the broadest possible sense of this word, to make freedom an eternal attribute of Georgia's life.

In concrete terms this means on one hand that the Georgian people and their leaders must remain irreversibly committed to humanist ideals, while on the other hand Georgia should find its niche in a security system where her independence and values can in no way be jeopardized. We regard, as such, the North Atlantic Alliance, which aside from being a forced equipped with state of the art technologies and modern knowledge, it also unites in its ranks nations whose democratic ideologies we fully share.

Since the end of the Cold War, a debate has been on as to what should be NATO's function under the new circumstances. Some shortsighted politicians have gone so far as to suggest that NATO has lost its usefulness and that there may soon be no need for the alliance at all. I remember those days and those years. This is totally wrong. For this logic proceeds from a narrow understanding of NATO's role and function. True, NATO indeed was created under a concrete set of circumstances for the implementation of concrete tasks. But it was a general idea of protecting free societies that has served as a core mission ever since it was created and it never changed whether the threat emanated from the Soviet Union or some organization of freedom-hating religious zealots.

So as long as there are enemies of freedom this fundamental function of the alliance will remain unchanged while NATO will continue to develop novel ways to address new challenges as they arise, hence the transformation that the alliance is undergoing today is both timely and necessary. Two vital areas of this change take on particular relevance from a Georgian perspective. One is NATO's further enlargement. Being forcibly cut off from the mainstream of European civilization was understandably regarded by most of the former "socialist-camp" countries as a gross historical injustice. The end of the Cold War made it obvious that they would seek to redress this injustice in the shortest possible term. It indeed happened like that and today we are pleased that invitations to join NATO have been extended to a number of new countries; we are particularly satisfied that among the countries are Bulgaria, Romania and some others. I will not name all of them. But I want to specifically mention Bulgaria and Romania -- this will add a new dimension to the security of the entire Black Sea area. We welcome the progress and deepening cooperation between NATO and Russia, and the distinctive partnership between NATO and Ukraine since they are essential not only European, too, but also to the global security system. We should not be fearful of our difficulties and challenges; I hope and I believe that there will be some answers.

The other area of adaptation is dealing with the new set of dangers, regretfully, as it may be that the ideological rivalry of the Cold-War era has been replaced with another type of confrontation -- namely between the civilized world view and that of religious fanaticism, extreme nationalism, and aggressive separatism and the emergence of uncontrolled territories within sovereign states, which, as a rule turn into centers of illicit trade in arms and narcotics and shelters of terrorist activities. NATO, the prime guarantor of security and the protection of democratic values across the planet, must play a central role in responding to the challenges these evils pose. As NATO is undergoing a major transformation, what should be the choice for Georgia? The country, which on the one hand is an integral part of Europe...and which on the other hand is a pivotal country in the region, where East-West transportation and energy corridors pass, and the region which happens to be an outpost of civilization that regards freedom and humanism in the widest possible sense of these words as its central values. In the course of it's centuries-old history the Georgian nation has often been confronted with the necessity to make a choice. As the world transformed itself, I will not bore you another time with a lesson dealing with Georgia's history but I will say that whenever Georgia was forcibly taken away from Europe it departed from the road of civilized development and a return to this road was inevitably accompanied by painful processes.

Today Georgia is free to make a choice, and it has already made it. Those who are familiar with the present Georgian society and know what heated debates occur on practically every problem of serious concern will be surprised at the unanimous enthusiasm shared across the board by the executive and legislative branches, the nongovernmental sector, the media, and average citizens. In the face of these heightened expectations our experts often have to explain to the public that Georgians still have a long way to go in meeting NATO standards; that willingness alone is not enough. And that a country must go through a number of stages and fulfill stiff eligibility requirements. Membership in NATO is not a prize but an enormous responsibility to both the alliance and the region. In order to raise awareness on these issues as well as to encourage and expedite progress toward membership several NGOs have been created in Georgia. Let me say again that public and nongovernmental organizations have been created that are very actively supportive of NATO membership. It's our hope that the Prague summit will mark the beginning of a new face in the relationship between NATO and Georgia whose aim will be to start the process required for accession. We intend to engage in the individual partnership action plan, the successful implementation of which will enable us to proceed to the Membership Action Plan. This, of course, will require more than a year or two. Yet I am sure it will not take as long as it might have appeared only a year ago. The reform of the military is moving forward and has gained a momentum with the implementation of the joint Georgian-American train and equip program.

The reform of law enforcement groups and the power structure has also begun. The judicial reform has been completed already. Particular attention has been given to increasing budget revenues and fighting corruption. In short, the performance of state institutions has markedly improved, which is evidenced by, among other things, the successful solution of the Pankisi [Gorge] problem which has been hanging over Georgia like the of sword of Damocles. We already stand firmly on our feet, we know our routes, and clearly see the road we should travel in the future to assume our rightful place in the undivided, stable, and secure Europe of tomorrow. Thank you very much for your attention.