Georgia’s First Lady – Sandra Roelofs

It was the Summer of 1992 when Sandra Roelofs arrived in Georgia for the first time in her life. With two Flamindian brothers and translator, she was hosted by a Georgian friend in Kutaisi. These several days spent in Georgia’s second largest city were enough for her to become fascinated with Georgian culture and hospitality. She later recalls those ten days as very impressive and unforgettable. After leaving Georgia, she couldn’t imagine that very soon her fate would connect her to this country forever. Sandra Elisabeth Roelofs was born in Terneuzen, a small town in the Netherlands on the 23rd of December of 1968. She spent her childhood with her warm family – her parents and a brother. Magdalena and Eduard Roelofses baptized their children in early childhood and inspired them the faith of God. The family used to live a sportive and sound lifestyle. Sailing and cycling were Eduard Roelofs’s favourite occupation. They even had their own yacht and Sandra and her brother Ekbert used to sail in the North Sea with their father. One of the main priority for Sandra’s parents was the education of their children. So they gave Sandra and Ekbert a good education from the beginning and that played an important role in their future achievements. Sandra became a specialist in French and German languages. Besides, she also studied English and after arriving in Georgia, Russian and Georgian languages too. One day Sandra was arranging newspapers and bulletins, when she suddenly found an announcement – there was a one-month course about Human Rights in Strasburg. She got interested, applied and in June of 1993 she was sitting in a train towards Strasburg. Destiny was taking her to the place where she would meet her prince with a rose in his hands… After a month Sandra and Mikheil were madly in love with each other, but they had to say good-bye and return to their places.


Unusual marriage

But the separation didn’t last long. In November Sandra moved to New York and they got married on the 17th. The first two years of cohabitation they lived in New York because Misha was then a student at Columbia University. They had to change living places for several times and their living conditions weren’t the best, but Sandra was adapting this situation obediently, because she knew that it was necessary for her husband’s future achievements. In July of 1995 Sandra and Misha arrived in Tbilisi for several days to have a Georgian wedding. This was Sandra’s second visit to Georgia, but this one was more emotional and exciting. She wondered whether Misha’s relatives would like her or not. Before leaving New York, she sent wedding invitations to her friends. “My friends probably would be astonished receiving an invitation from a person who was born in the Netherlands, studied French and German in Belgium, met her fiancée in France, went to USA to live there and now was getting married in Georgia!” The wedding was really splendid and the couple returned to New York until 1995. Sandra was active, full of energy and was always trying to find new, interesting things in life. Before becoming the first lady of Georgia, she had tried many different jobs. She had been working almost everywhere – starting at a New York restaurant and ending up at University. Working as a translator of German and English languages was a little boring for her. She wanted something more energetic where she could apply her organizational talent. That’s why, one fine day, she decided to start working in the IRCC (International Red Cross Committee) in Belgium. Starting as a volunteer, she became a staff member. She continued cooperating with IRCC after arriving in Georgia too. While living in New York, Sandra and Misha didn’t have a comfortable life. They had a low income. Of course, the bursary Misha was receiving wasn’t enough and Sandra’s work was very important for them. She was moving from place to place. At first she started working in Unicef Metropolitan and later found a job at Columbia University, she even had to sell pizzas until she found a permanent job in a juridical firm as a secretary. Meanwhile her husband was studying and getting interested in politics. After Misha’s graduation, the couple moved to Georgia. While adapting to a new living place, Sandra began to look for a job. She worked in the Consulate of the Netherlands for three years. She was also teaching French at Tbilisi State University. In other words, she had a huge working experience but her field of interest had always been in the humanitarian field. At that time, social conditions in Georgia were dire. Lots of people needed humanitarian help and Sandra soon found a way out.


SOCO

In 1998 a charitable humanitarian centre named SOCO was established on the initiative of Sandra Roelofs. The aim of the organization was to help poor people, orphan children and singletons materially and morally. The name SOCO is not an abbreviation or a short name of something. As Sandra said, she gave this name to her organization because she just liked the sonority of letters. “I featured the letters on SOCO’s emblem with blue, red, black and green colours. This has a deep symbolical importance for me. This shows the way, how I started humanitarian activities in Georgia. Blue S – means a huge desire of adventures, traveling and finding new cultures, that brought me to Georgia the first time in 1992; Red O – meaning love, that connected me to a Georgian man; C – is black, because I think this is the colour of faith, religion and Christian values are very important and respectable for me; and last O, which has a green colour, means hope, hope and better future for Georgia…”. This Humanitarian organization has a very important place in Sandra’s life. Meanwhile Sandra’s husband Mikheil Saakashvili was becoming more and more successful and popular politician. After moving in Tbilisi in 1995, Misha got actively involved in political activities. At first he was a deputy, then a chairman of Tbilisi’s municipality, Ministry of justice and finally was inaugurated as a president of Georgia. It’s impossible not to mention Sandra’s participation in Misha’s progression.


Rose Revolution

It’s well-known, that anyone, who is aspiring to reach the top, needs a strong, clever and reliable person aside. Sandra was always doing her best to sustain her husband and was a suitable mate. After the Rose Revolution in 2003, under the status of Georgia’s first lady, she wrote a book about her life, which has been translated into several languages. In the book, named The story of an Idealist, Sandra describes those emotions and excitements, which were connected with Misha’s political achievements and she is proud of being part of her husbands success. Nowadays Sandra continues to make charity projects with SOCO. She planes more and more arrangements and projects in Georgian people’s benefit. A huge part of her time is conceded to her children – Eduard and Nikoloz. Sandra is deeply in love with Georgia. She calls is her second motherland. She sincerely cares about the future of Georgia and thinks it’s her duty to do something for its development and progress. In her book, she writes: “As it’s said, it’s easier to reach the top, than staying there. That means that there are more obstacles ahead. We will try everything. It’s a great honour to be in the head of a country like Georgia. It’s an honour to serve the Georgian nation, which deserves a much better future than the one it has endured in the past year. Cheers to Georgia!”

Information From: weastmagazine.net

Saakashvili`s son establishes Guiness Record

Edward Saakashvili overtook other contestants and succeeded to type alphabet on iPad fastest of all.

Edward Saakashvili, the eldest son of the president of Georgia, has established Guinness record in the presence of the representative of the Guinness Records. Edward Saakashvili overtook other contestants and succeeded to type alphabet on iPad fastest of all. With his right hand, Edward Saakashvili typed English alphabet in 5,25 second, beating the record of a British teenager, Charley joseph with 1,5 seconds.

This is the first case when the Guinness Record is established in the presence of the official representative of the organization. This is also the first record in modern technologies established in Georgia.

The young record holder plans to go to Chine to learn Chinese language after this success.

Information From: Rustavi2.com

Saakashvili: The Arab Spring will topple the Russian government

The Russian government is following the path of the deposed regimes of Hosni Mubarak and Muammar al-Qaddafi and is setting itself up for a fall from power, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili said in an exclusive interview with The Cable.

"You need to listen to what Russian leaders themselves are saying. They say ‘We are not Libya, we are not Egypt, Russia will not go down this road,'" Saakashvili said. "I've heard that from other leaders before. I heard it from Soviet leaders. And once you start saying those things it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy, and then you start to do certain things and to not allow certain things, and those are exactly the kind of actions that promote further sliding down this road [toward losing power]."

Not only is Russia denying the desires of its own people by suppressing protests and real democracy, it is now leading the opposition to the wave of popular revolutions that the world witnessed over the past year, said the Georgian president, who fought a five-day war with Russia in 2008. The latest and greatest example, he said, is Russia's support for the brutal Syrian regime led by President Bashar al-Assad.

"Syria stands as a symbol," Saakashvili said. "[The Russians] fully identify themselves with Libya but they thought that in Libya they were a fooled into action. And now with Syria they think that if Syria falls, it's the last bastion before Moscow. And this is exactly the kind of attitude that will bring problems closer home to Moscow. It's not going to help Syria in any way, but it's certainly damaging Russia a lot."

The anticipated return of Vladimir Putin to the presidency later this year is significant because his term will be marked by opposition to real reform both inside and outside Russia, Saakashvili said.

"Unlike Westerners who think in terms of superficial symbols that he's returning, the middle class in Moscow knew that he never went away," said Saakashvili. "It's not about returning Putin to the presidency, it's about what he said. And what he said was ‘I'm returning because I should stop any attempt to reform and crack down on any mode of reform,' and that's what the middle class in Russia heard."

U.S. engagement with Moscow is useful and efforts to continue the "reset" policy should continue, but all the signals from Russia indicate that it is returning to a pre-reset policy, the Georgian president added. He made the case that Russia showed real flexibility during its drive to get into the World Trade Organization in 2011, but now that it has achieved that goal, its attitude has reverted to one of confrontation.

One example is Russia's constantly stoking the rumor that the United States is planning to deploy missile defense elements to Georgia, something Saakashvili said simply isn't true.

"Vladimir Putin is talking about this all the time. Either he is strongly misguided or he's looking for reasons to say nasty things," he said.

Just minutes before his interview with The Cable, speaking in front of a packed audience in the sparkling new auditorium of the United States Institute of Peace headquarters in Washington, Saakashvili contrasted the reactions of Russia and Turkey to the Arab Spring.

"Two radical different attitudes have emerged, offered by two specific regional powers. On one hand, the Russian Federation reacted with outrage and panic to the Arab Spring and tries to do anything they can to prevent any international support to the democracy movements anywhere. On the other hand, Turkey asserts itself as the model for the post revolutionary countries," he said.

"On the one hand, the government of Vladimir Putin desperately tries to hold back the progress of history. On the other hand, the government of Prime Minister [Recep Tayyip] Erdogan tries to embrace the revolutions of the world. Two very different prime ministers," he said. "It's not a coincidence that Russian influence is decreasing while Turkish leadership is growing in the region every day."

Saakashvili also talked about Georgia's struggles following its separation from the Soviet empire, and the lessons he might offer to new governments undergoing similar difficulties.

"Georgia's experience does not provide a transferable model for many countries that have known or will sooner or later know progressive uprising. There was no freedom textbook for us, and no textbook for our friends was ever written. The real revolution occurs after the cameras from CNN, BBC, and the others have left the country. It consists of the long and difficult process of reform that follows," he said.

"This is a lesson and a message of hope. There is no future for global powers playing against the will of their own people."

The Cable also asked Saakashvili for his opinion of actor Andy Garcia's portrayal of him in the movie Five Days of War, the 2011 film about the Russian-Georgian conflict.

"I only saw parts of it, but what I know is that my English was a little better than his and that was very reassuring," he said.

Information From: thecable.foreignpolicy.com

Saakashvili’s Visit to Batumi Dolphinarium in Focus of Russian Media

Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili’s visit to the Batumi dolphinarium has appeared in the focus of interest for the Russian media.
Details of Saakashvili’s visit were covered by RTVi TV, Echo of Moscow Radio and Interfax.
Interfax says Saakashvili confused his guards by ‘putting his head into the mouth of one of the dolphins’.
‘The dolphin was well-disposed towards the President, whispering something into his ear. Surrounding people applauded Saakashvili after being shocked for several times’, Interfax said.
This interpretation by Interfax was criticized by the Russian media itself.
According to Newsru, ‘Saakashvili really lent to one of the dolphins, though he did not put his head into its mouth’.
Echo of Moscow Radio and RTVi TV say Saakashvili hugged and kissed one of the dolphins.
Mikheil Saakashvili visited the Batumi dolphinarium following a police parade held in Batumi, Adjara region, yesterday.
The dolphinarium resumed functioning this year after a 20-year break.

 Information From:   georgianamerica.com

The Hero in the Cessna: Saakashvili at Georgetown

I never made it to see Saakashvili in person at Gaston Hall at Georgetown University (had to drive my daughter to school at last minute). Fortunately Georgetown webcast the event (a great idea, and to their credit). Only the audio was initially available and from his voice it really sounded like he was up all night partying! I think he simply had a head cold. When the video came through he looked older but well turned out. A few observations.
I’ve only seen Saakashvili speak a few times, and yet I heard the same speech he gave years ago. Its the story about the police which features the dramatic “We fired them” and the subsequent turnaround. Its a good story but its old, and its repetition may indicate that he and his government are stuck spinning their foundational mythologies. Alternatively, perhaps he knows from past experience that this story really works well in Washington DC (and better to stick to pre-Aug 2008 stories than remind folks about the circumstances of that war’s start). “My whole cabinet is younger than I” may be meant as demonstration of continuation of the libertarian Jacobin elan, but it too is a gesture that seems stuck in the past. Isn’t it good to have some mature minds around? The fascinating boy-man quality of Saakashvili’s personality — on full view in his response to Obama at the White House — deserves some scrutiny.
Saakashvili retains his fondness for GOP (i.e. US Republican Party) soundbites. Interestingly the subterranean sadomasochistic pleasure of the “we fired them all” story resonates with Romney’s recent “I like firing people.” What struck me, however, was his articulation of the current GOP storyline about how others (read Obama) are saying “America is finished” and American must “apologize” for its past behavior (read, the Iraq war and torture). [Obama, of course, says the opposite but this is an enduring self-construct; the SOTU deliberately countered this again but I expect the myth to remain]. This sets up a defiant ripost that doubles down on American exceptionalism and pride. Here Senator Marco Rubio as a meritorious carrier of these transcendent truths was mentioned (significant I think because he’s widely seen as a possible Romney running mate). The trouble with this structure of feeling for Saakashvili is that (i) many political heads in DC will instantly see this as GOP code and this identifies him further in US partisan political terms in ways that do not help his country and (ii) simple stories reflect badly on their tellers. In his defense, he may be articulating what he really thinks or what he really thinks works.
It is probably expecting too much from such a forum for someone to actually ask a challenging question. Georgetown President described his remarks as “inspiring” and “tough minded” or words to that effect. Generous. The Dean buried the one question that needed to be asked — are you going to ‘pull a Putin’? — inside a soft question about the European Union, which allowed him to justify the new constitution as Georgia Europeanizing itself.
The question from the Russian language VOA broadcaster elicited Saakashvili’s most polemical geopolitical rhetoric. Again the default mode is a pleasurable ‘structure of feeling’ of righteous indignation. “Russia occupies 20 percent of our country.” This beclouds all complexity, acknowledgement of Georgia’s difficult past relations with these regions, and any fidelity to empirics on the ground. Thus, we get the line that in South Ossetia there are only 7,000 residents but 20,000 Russian troops. Abkhazia’s beaches are deserted except for tank crews sunning themselves. In a situation where virtually the whole world supports Georgia’s position on the separatist territories, this type of rhetoric (with empirical claims about South Ossetia and Abkhazia that are not credible) runs the risk of damaging not furthering one’s cause. It would seem to be an unnecessary ‘own goal.’
The story at the conclusion of Saakashvili defiantly taking off in his Cessna, piloting it himself, even though he knows that Russian radar (and presumably anti-aircraft missiles) have locked onto his plane, seemed to work well with the audience to judge by the intensity of applause at the end. Maybe President Saakashvili did indeed move the audience and do a good job for his country, leaving everyone with the favorite image of little Georgia courageously defying the bullying bear to the north (and within its own territory). But do heroic defiance stories really work, especially with hardheaded political analysts and security planners?
Georgia exploded as an issue in the last Presidential election in August 2008. I’ve little doubt that President Saakashvili would like it to retain power as a ‘symbolic test’ of US commitment to its expansive ideals (some in the GOP may think of it as a wedge issue). My sense, however, is that Saakashvili’s stories, or those of other leaders vying for attention, do not resonate in US geopolitical culture like before. Why? Because they are out of synch with the post-Iraq, indebted, and wanna be post-Afghanistan ethos of our day. This isn’t ‘declinism’ so much as a reversion to American skepticism and self-concern in turbulent uncertain times. ‘Enough with funding experiments/states/favorites abroad; lets re-focus at home’ is how one might summarize the mood. This isn’t necessarily a good thing — we need proactive US engagement on Syria, Iraq, Burma and Egypt now especially — but it is a fact of life all US politicians have to confront.

Information From: Toal.org

Mikheil Saakashvili

Mikheil Saakashvili was elected president of Georgia after a bloodless revolution in 2003. A graduate of Columbia Law School in New York, fluent in four languages and in the values of free-market democracies, he was deemed a savior for the post-Soviet landscape.

Mr. Saakashvili has been a staunch ally of the United States in the volatile Caucasus region, dispatching troops to Iraq to show his support. He vowed to crack down on corruption, and introduced reforms that brought foreign investment and growth to one of the region's poorest countries.

He also pledged to restore federal rule to three regions that had been essentially independent since the fighting that followed the collapse of the Soviet Union -- Ajaria, Abkhazia and South Ossetia. He found quick success in Ajaria, a Black Sea region on the border with Turkey. After initial saber-rattling that alarmed many around the region, Mr. Saakashvili in 2005 tried a softer approaching, offering a package of autonomy and incentives to South Ossetia. His overtures were rejected.

By 2007, discontent was rising among the opposition, who pointed to what they called renewed corruption and to the economic inequality that accompanied the country's new growth. The unhappiness boiled over into six days of street protests in November, which were brought to a close by a violent police crackdown as Mr. Saakashvili declared a state of emergency. As critics wondered whether he was showing a new dictatorial side, he turned around and ordered snap elections, and won a new five-year term in January 2008 with 52 percent of the vote.

In August 2008, he ordered an attack on separatists in South Ossetia, one of two territories - Abkhazia is the other - where Georgia and Russia had been locked in a 15-year standoff. Georgian forces were quickly routed, and Russia seized both territories.

Mr. Saakashvili cast the attack as a necessary response to a Russian invasion, but no evidence emerged to verify the claim, and political opponents said he acted rashly.

Russian leaders have made it brutally clear that they want him out.

The internal call for his resignation grew in the months following the war and in April 2009 tens of thousands of protesters marched through the streets of Tbilisi bearing signs and chanting slogans against Mr. Saakashvili.

While the atmosphere in front of the Parliament building where the protesters gathered to demand his resignation was tense, the day's events unfolded without violence. A smaller number of protestors gathered again the next day.

Georgia put down a brief military mutiny that aimed to disrupt NATO military exercises in May 2009, ratcheting up tensions a day before the exercises were scheduled to begin over Russian objections.

In May 2010 voters in Tbilisi overwhelmingly endorsed Mr. Saakashvili's ruling party in municipal elections, barely a year after opposition parties had thronged the streets vowing to force him from office.

Mr. Saakashvili had declared that the mayor of Tbilisi would for the first time be directly elected by voters, and moved up nationwide local elections from October to May. The changes were part of a package of reforms intended to placate opposition leaders, who blamed him for leading the country into war with Russia.

Results from the Central Election Commission gave a solid victory to the incumbent mayor, Gigi Ugulava, a longtime political ally of Mr. Saakashvili. Mr. Saakashvili's United National Movement appeared to shut out the opposition in nationwide municipal races, which elect city councils.

The race in Tbilisi, in particular, was seen as an indicator of who may run to succeed Mr. Saakashvili when his term ends in 2013, and deflated the expectations of Georgia's opposition, which counts Tbilisi, home to more than a quarter of the electorate, as its most important stronghold.

Information From: nytimes.com/

President Obama Welcomes Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili

  Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili was at the White House today for a meeting with President Obama. The leaders discussed relations between our two countries, Georgia's contributions to the military operation in Afghanistan, and the potential for a free trade agreement between the United States and Georgia. In recent years, commerce between the two countries has been increasing, and President Obama described the potential free trade agreement agreement as a "win-win":  

Obviously, there’s a lot of work to be done and there are going to be a lot of options that are going to be explored. The key point, though, is we think it’s a win-win for the United States and for Georgia as we continue to find opportunities for businesses to invest in Georgia, for us to be able to sell Georgia our goods and services, and Georgia to be able to sell theirs as well.

 Georgia is one of 50 nations helping to fight the war in Afghanistan, and a point President Obama also took the time to note. "They have been one of the most dedicated contributors outside of NATO to the ISAF effort," he said, "And in fact have taken on some significant casualties as a consequence of those efforts." Today's meeting marked the 20th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

Informatiob From: whitehouse.gov