Serbia and Georgia Support Each Other’s Sovereignty and Territorial Integrity

On 7 December 2021, His Royal Highness Crown Prince Davit Bagrationi Mukhranbatoni, Head of the Royal House of Georgia, accompanied by Her Royal Highness Princess Irina Bagration-Mukhrani, officially visited the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia at the invitation of Stefan Krkobabić, Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly.

The royal entourage included Aleksandar O. Đurđev, a member of the Assembly of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina and Rector of the Order of the Eagle of Georgia and the Seamless Tunic of Our Lord Jesus Christ in Serbia, and the Reverend Deacon Hadži Nenad M. Jovanović, Secretary of the Centre for the Study of Orthodox Monarchism and Chaplain of the Georgian Royal Orders in Serbia.

Their Royal Highnesses and their entourage were welcomed by Stefan Krkobabić and his associates: Hadži Milorad Stošić, Member of Parliament and Head of the PUPS–“Three P’s” Parliamentary Group; Dragan M. Marković, Member of Parliament; and Goran Milenković, Assistant Minister in the Ministry of Rural Welfare of the Government of Serbia.

The meeting was held in the Library of the National Assembly, a historic representative chamber within the National Assembly House. The participants discussed a wide range of issues concerning the restoration of historic cultural, religious, and economic relations, as well as the establishment of new forms of cooperation between the two nations. They noted that Serbia and Georgia are connected by their common Orthodox Christian faith and numerous historical similarities that have helped shape their national identities.

After the meeting, the participants proceeded to the Central Hall of the National Assembly House, where His Royal Highness conferred the Medal of Merit of the Royal House of Georgia upon Stefan Krkobabić.

The distinction recognised Mr Krkobabić’s support on this and previous occasions, his contribution to the Royal House of Georgia, and his efforts to improve cultural relations, mutual understanding, and cooperation between the two nations.

Following the investiture, His Royal Highness and Mr Krkobabić addressed representatives of the media.

Address by His Royal Highness Crown Prince Davit

“On my own behalf, I have the great pleasure of expressing my joy that we have been given this exceptional opportunity and honour to visit this historic building, the House of the National Assembly of Serbia.

This is the second time that I have visited your beautiful country and city, which I have loved since my youth. During the years when our family lived in exile, I had the opportunity to meet and socialise with people from Serbia and Belgrade who told me much about your country and your city. Their stories about the beauty of your country and the good nature of your people awakened in me a lively interest and curiosity, which were confirmed when I was first given the opportunity and privilege to come here.

On that occasion, I was received with the same kindness and hospitality as I have experienced today. I remember that visit from ten years ago with both joy and sadness. We were then received by the late Serbian Patriarch Irinej of blessed memory, Archbishop of Peć and Metropolitan of Belgrade and Karlovci, upon whom we conferred the highest order of our Royal House. From that time until his blessed repose, we remained in frequent contact with His Holiness, whose paternal words and spiritual teachings we shall cherish for many years to come.

I am honoured that today, in this memorable place, I have had the exceptional privilege of conferring the Medal of Merit of the Royal House of Georgia upon the Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, Stefan Krkobabić. The decoration was proposed by the Rector and Chaplain of our Royal Orders in Serbia, Aleksandar O. Đurđev and Deacon Hadži Nenad M. Jovanović.

We gladly accepted their nomination of the esteemed Mr Krkobabić, whom we consider truly worthy of this recognition from our House. Through this distinction, we wish to express our sincere gratitude for his genuine and selfless support of the efforts of our Royal House to deepen and renew the historic, spiritual, and cultural ties between our two peoples.

We also wish to express our deepest respect and recognition for Mr Krkobabić’s outstanding achievements and to encourage the further development of cultural and other relations between our peoples. We have much in common, but there remains significant room for improvement and further development for our mutual benefit.

Our peoples have been united and inseparably connected for many centuries by a common Orthodox faith, shared heritage, and similar historical experiences. Serbian-Georgian relations reach back to ancient times, including the era of Saint Simeon the Myrrh-Streaming and Saint Sava.

Those relations continued through the Balkan military campaigns of the distinguished member of our House, Prince General Peter Bagration, during the nineteenth century, and through the military and diplomatic service of our cousin Prince Teymuraz Bagration-Mukhrani. Prince Teymuraz served as an officer of the Royal Guard and as a diplomat of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. He was also the husband of Katarina Račić, granddaughter of the distinguished Serbian statesman Nikola Pašić.

We are convinced that this shared history, together with the many other connections between Georgia, our Royal House, and Serbia that we have not mentioned here, provides a firm foundation upon which to strengthen existing ties and create new spiritual and cultural relations that will bring us even closer together.

We consider the esteemed Mr Krkobabić to be an exceptionally valuable collaborator and a worthy partner in this important work. We therefore take this opportunity to congratulate him once again upon the distinction that he has so deservedly received today.”

Reply by Stefan Krkobabić

“Your Royal Highness Crown Prince Davit Bagrationi Mukhranbatoni,

Esteemed Rector of the Order of the Eagle of Georgia and the Seamless Tunic of Our Lord Jesus Christ in Serbia, Mr Đurđev,

Honourable Chaplain of the Georgian Royal Orders in Serbia, Deacon Hadži Nenad M. Jovanović,

Esteemed representatives of the media,

The great Georgian writer Ilia Chavchavadze said: ‘We have three divine treasures from our ancestors: homeland, language, and religion.’ This sentence contains the fundamental values cherished by the Serbian and Georgian peoples, their states, and their Churches. These values also deeply connect our two peoples, who are distant only in the geographical sense.

Our homelands, Georgia and Serbia, are situated in two of the most historically turbulent regions of Europe and the world: the Caucasus and the Balkans. The destinies of Serbs and Georgians therefore share important similarities—the struggle to preserve state independence and national identity within a complex geopolitical environment shaped by the competing interests of great powers.

Our languages and scripts are centuries old and carefully preserve their authenticity. Our Churches—the Georgian Orthodox Church and the Serbian Orthodox Church—have been among the important pillars of Orthodox Christianity, both historically and in the present day.

The connections between our peoples, small in number but great in their history, courage, dignity, hospitality, and many other qualities, have not been and cannot be weakened or broken by geographical distance.

Dear friends, I shall not address you as guests, because you are in your second home—in this solemn house, in Belgrade, and in Serbia. In many respects, Georgians have been described as ‘the Serbs of the Caucasus,’ just as Serbs may be described as ‘the Georgians of the Balkans.’

Your Royal Highness, I am pleased that you are visiting the Serbian capital for the second time and that you have bestowed upon me the great honour and privilege of receiving the Medal of Merit of the Royal House of Georgia.

The fact that, during your previous visit to Belgrade in 2011, you decorated the late Serbian Patriarch Irinej is a source of great satisfaction to me. It also places upon me an obligation to promote and encourage Serbian-Georgian relations, both as a public figure and personally, together with all the values that unite our peoples and countries.

Your Royal Highness, I ask you to return to Tbilisi with a message of gratitude addressed to you, your country, and your compatriots. I convey that gratitude not only in my own name, but also on behalf of Serbia and the Serbian people.

Since our diplomatic relations were established in 1995, Serbia has had a sincere friend and reliable partner in Georgia. Throughout these years, Georgia has supported the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Serbia concerning Kosovo and Metohija, just as Serbia has supported the indivisibility, sovereignty, and territorial integrity of Georgia, including Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

Georgia has consistently supported Serbia in international institutions when the so-called Kosovo has sought membership. We particularly remember Georgia’s vote against the admission of the so-called Kosovo to UNESCO in 2015, recognising the importance of the Orthodox shrines in that territory to the Serbian state and people.

I therefore ask you to convey to the people of Georgia our profound gratitude and our desire to establish diplomatic relations at the highest possible level through the opening of a Serbian embassy in Tbilisi and a Georgian embassy in Belgrade.

This is important because small but free and independent nations such as ours must strengthen their political, economic, cultural, and other forms of cooperation. I am confident that this is entirely achievable in the relationship between our two countries.

Dear friends, I thank you once again for your visit to Belgrade and Serbia, for the distinction that you have conferred upon me, and for your selfless and tireless promotion of Georgian-Serbian friendship and cooperation.

Long live Georgia! Long live Serbia!”