Georgia’s Interior Minister meets with EU leaders in Brussels
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Georgian Minister of Internal Affairs Giorgi Mgebrishvili met with European Union (EU) Enlargement Commissioner Johannes Hahn in Brussels today to discuss the recent decision to cancel visa-requirements for Georgians.
Mgebrishvili believes that recent reforms carried out by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, which have touched largely on security matters and the police force, will bring Georgia closer to Europe.
Johannes Hahn welcomed Georgia’s latest and ongoing reforms and later tweeted about his meeting with Mgebrishvili. Photo from www.police.ge
Good meeting with Minister of Interior of #Georgia, Giorgi #Mghebrishvili on #Georgia's #reformagenda in home affairs matters. 1/2 pic.twitter.com/eV5ZBoG3r0
— Johannes Hahn (@JHahnEU) March 23, 2017
Mgebrishvili met with the European Commissioner on Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship issues Dimitris Avramopoulos yesterday, with whom he discussed the visa-free regime, Georgia-EU cooperation and the support of key European institutions to Georgia.
Minister Mgebrishvili thanked Avramopoulos for his support and contributions made to aid Georgia’s integration into European structures and the visa-liberalisation process.
A new chapter has been inaugurated… between the EU and Georgia. Very soon, in a few days, Georgian citizens will find the doors open to travel to Europe, but beyond that, today with the minister we discussed stronger and deeper cooperation in the field of security, the fight against organised crime, and I can say that I am very happy of the outcome of these excellent discussions”, Avramopoulos said.
#GIORGI#MGEBRISHVILI HELD MEETING WITH EURO-COMMISSIONER ON MIGRATION, HOME AFFAIRS AND CITIZENSHIP ISSUES - https://t.co/mbN5o5wKvQ
— MIA of Georgia (@MIAofGeorgia) March 23, 2017
Mgebrishvili said that the Georgian Ministry of Interior Affairs successfully cooperates with EU member states in the field of the fight against crime and has deployed police attachés in 13 partner states. In the nearest future an agreement on cooperation on operative and strategic levels will be signed with Europol after which Georgia will become a Europol partner state.
Europol is the European Union’s law enforcement agency, the main goal of which is to achieve a safer Europe for the benefit of all EU citizens.
More than 20 people have been taken to hospital after a violence erupted in the streets of Georgia’s Black Sea coastal city of Batumi in the Adjara region in the west of the country late on Saturday evening.
Two Georgian high officials sat down with France’s Interior Minister in Paris yesterday to discuss illegal migration, international organised crime and other issues relating to both nations.
Germany’s Federal Minister of Interior and vice premier of Bavaria, Joachim Herrmann, told Georgia’s Minister of Internal Affairs Giorgi Mgebrishvili that he wished to see closer cooperation between German and Georgian law enforcement agencies.
Georgia’s Ministry of Internal Affairs hosted the one-day event, which addressed Georgia’s and international security issues. The country’s successful integration process towards the European Union (EU) was another key issue discussed at the meeting.
According to statistics, a total of 35,997 crimes were reported in the country during 2016. Of these, 20,661 or 57.4 percent have been solved.
For the first time in recent years, Georgia has not been among the 25 countries whose citizens commit the most crimes in Germany.
The ties between the Georgian and Lithuanian Interior Ministries will now become stronger as the two countries have signed a memorandum of understanding between their police units.
Georgia’s Interior Minister dismissed his first deputy Besik Amiranashvili today and announced he would personally curate the criminal police earlier the fired police official was responsible for.
Very soon Tbilisi will have more patrol police crews, Georgia’s Interior Minister Giorgi Mgebrishvili announced today.