In 2012, Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili made public statements recognizing the religious contributions of Roman Catholics, Armenian Apostolics, and Azeri Muslims, saying that he was "proud that we are making a unified state where representatives of all cultures, confessions, and ethnicity feel themselves as equal children of the country". Later in the same year, newly elected prime minister Bidzina Ivanishvili met with Jewish groups, celebrating Shabbat and Hanukkah and stating that he was "committed to making Georgia a place where all Georgians, regardless of their faith, are treated equally and with respect".