Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili was the first to drive a sports car over a new bridge in Georgia's Gori district on Monday, inaugurating a "road to Abkhazia."

The event was dedicated to the 2003 "rose revolution" that brought Saakashvili to power.

The president's Formula-3 class car was accompanied by two others driven by his bodyguards over the bridge built near the village of Igoeti.

After crossing the bridge, the Georgian leader got out of the car and told journalists the road he had been driving along leads to Abkhazia, adding the republic "will certainly return to Georgia."

As a result of the "rose revolution," Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze resigned on November 23, 2003, and the so-called troika came to power - President Mikheil Saakashvili, Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania and Parliament Speaker Nino Burdzhanadze.

Russia recognized the independence of the former Georgian republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia last August after a five-day war with Georgia over the latter, which was attacked by Tbilisi in an attempt to bring it back under central control. Abkhazia and South Ossetia have also been recognized by Nicaragua and Venezuela.

Zurab Zhvania died on February 3, 2005 under mysterious circumstances, while Burdzhanadze joined the opposition in the wake of the Russian-Georgian war.

TBILISI, November 23 (RIA Novosti)