The President of Georgia awarded Medals of Honor to Nino Kordzakhia, Aleksandre Bakhtadze, Marine Mizandari, Salome Tsiskarauli, Marie-Georges Pagel-Brousse, Catherine Leonard, and Przemyslaw Nocun for their personal contributions to the restoration and preservation of Georgian cultural heritage.

The awarding ceremony was held at the Orbeliani Palace, where the President congratulated the recipients on receiving the state award and addressed the invited guests.

"Welcome. First of all, I would like to congratulate you all on the official presentation of the [Europa Nostra] award for the rehabilitation of the Tsiskaraulebi  Tower in Arkhoti.

I know that many of you were there, and I wanted to join you, but unfortunately, it wasn't possible. During this period, it's a bit difficult to leave the city like this.

That's why I wanted to celebrate this award here and, symbolically, say a few words in this palace about the award and its significance, as well as the importance of Georgia's cooperation with Europa Nostra, which symbolizes our integration into Europe and Europe's presence with us.

This is not the first award; this cooperation has been ongoing for years, and I would like to thank Europa Nostra for its attention to Georgian monuments in various regions of Georgia and for the work of its institutions in this regard.

I won't list all the awards—up to ten—that have been given to Georgia. This is a very important and close relationship between us and Europe in this field. It is essential for both us and our European partners, as it is not a unilateral relationship but a bilateral and very significant one.

The international organization ALIPH, which works on the restoration of monuments in conflict zones, along with several European organizations from France, Britain, and Poland, was also involved in this project. This is a very important contribution on their part that should be noted.

The protection of monuments, in light of our history, is one of the most important activities of the state for our country. Our identity is rooted not merely in the existence of these monuments (which will continue to exist in some form), but in their protection, which signifies our awareness of their importance for our existence—our past and our future.

We all know very well, though some may sometimes forget, that the enemy's primary goal is to erase our monuments, for erasing monuments means erasing our identity. As for where Lavrov sees the identity of Georgia supposedly "returning" to us—let me remind him, it has never disappeared. Our identity is strong and endures precisely because we have a strong community and a deep sense of consciousness.

Many non-governmental organizations work to protect our monuments and culture. Therefore, it is crucial to preserve and strengthen our non-governmental sector with the support of foreign partners, who have been instrumental in bringing us to this point and will undoubtedly continue to do so. This reflects the clear desire and will of our country and our population, which no one can change. The event yesterday in Arkhoti symbolizes all of this: that we stand where we should stand, we have the partners we need, we value our partners, and we understand the significance of our past and our monuments. We know where we were, where we are, and where we are going," said the President of Georgia.

The rehabilitation project of the 16th-17th century Tsiskaraulebi Tower was completed in 2023. This project is the result of tripartite cooperation between the French non-governmental organization REMPART, the International National Trusts Organisation (INTO), its member—the National Trust of Georgia, and the international foundation ALIPH.