TRANSCRIPT:
The Voice of America happened long, long time ago in Soviet Union when my parents were listening to the radio with very strange noises trying to cancel the transmission. Also they were listening to it on a very low voice so no one else could hear it. So that was my first encounter as a small boy, and then the radio was so very important for years and decades to come.
Our American listeners probably could not imagine what it means to have an opportunity to listen to an opinion, a different opinion from propaganda. And what emotional, and what mental change does it bring to your identity when you see and you know that someone is going to say the truth, and that there is a truth beyond propaganda.
It is a radio that has basically, if we look historically, has won two world wars — the Second World War with fascism and Nazi propaganda, and the second was the Cold War.
So we can only applaud and thank the staff that has worked for the truth through these troubled years when the world was, well the truth was, substituted with lie, and propaganda was forcing us into bloodshed. We can only thank the staff, the commitment, and hope that it will continue in this ominous times where truth is very often lost among the overwhelming propaganda machine. I want to thank the staff. I want to thank them for cooperation during my years in office and hope that they will continue their noble goal.
Published
Margvelashvili served as president of Georgia from 2013–2018. Before becoming president, he worked in public policy and served as Georgia’s minister of education and science.