June 2019 Tbilisi clashes caused damage to Georgia's interior security, state agency report says

The violent June 20 clash between protesters and security services in Tbilisi and subsequent demonstrations in the capital "largely harmed" security conditions in the country, a report by Georgia's State Security Service has said.

The annual 2019 report by the agency features an overview of the effects of the protest sparked by presence of a Russian Duma MP in the Georgian parliament, which later transformed into a general demonstration against the Russian occupation and Georgian government's response to the original event.

Events that transpired outside the parliament building - including clashes that left hundreds injured - in the capital "and their accompanying effects" were named in the report as "one of the biggest challenges" of the year.

"Aggression, violence, resistance to law enforcement, in addition to actions aimed at creating out-of-control, chaotic circumstances - and making them a new norm - create significant challenges for statehood, constitutional order and forms of governance," the SSS report says.

Beside provoking internal political crises, these actions can also be "immediately used" by foreign states for sparking more grave and "irreversible processes" within the state, the paper notes.

The SSS report was forwarded to the Georgian parliament on Thursday and involved overview of security challenges that faced Georgia in 2019.