Georgian Security Service response to ‘disinformation’ over agreement with Belarusian KGB
The Georgian State Security says that its agreement with Belarus KGB was signed back in 2016 and that it entered into force this month. Photo: ITV.
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The Georgian State Security Service (SSS) says that the recent criticism over its agreement with the State Security Committee (KGB) of Belarus against terrorism and corruption is caused by ‘disinformation’ and aims to discredit Georgian security and law enforcement agencies.
Georgian opposition party Droa and several foreign officials and diplomats have tweeted that the ‘recent agreement’ between Georgian and Belarus intelligence services, following the disputed 2020 elections in Belarus, was alarming and it may cause problems for Belarusian citizens who live or are seeking asylum in Georgia.
❗️Statement: We are horrified by the @GovernmentGeo’s decision to sign a collaboration agreement w/ Lukashenka’s KGB.This not only legitimizes Lukashenka’s horrendous&illegitimate regime that is responsible for thousands of deaths,but also endangers lives of Belarusians here(1/2)
— Droa (@MovementDroa) August 14, 2021
The SSS says that the agreement with the Belarusian KGB was signed back in 2016 and not now, and that the agreement simply entered into force in August 2021.
#Georgia concluded deal with #Belarus #KGB? Can’t believe, still sounds like a joke. If this is true, it will only mean one thing- Georgia’s path to #EU and #NATO will be very hazy. https://t.co/eOCpuekKz8
— Linas Linkevicius (@LinkeviciusL) August 14, 2021
The agency says that the agreement covers cooperation against terrorism, corruption as well as other international and transnational organised crimes.
The SSS says that per the agreement, Georgia and Belarus will exchange information against crime voluntarily and that the agreement never obliges the signatories to act against their own interests.
Shameful indeed. The Georgian Govt recently withdrew from an agreement brokered by the EU — if they don’t from this, it will be another sign that their priorities lie elsewhere. https://t.co/hocmQ3uuH9
— Ian Kelly (@ikelly731) August 14, 2021
We have such an agreement signed with the US, UK, France, Lithuania and other NATO and EU-member countries,” said the agency.
The SSS says that using the agreement to ‘discredit the agency’ is against the interests of Georgia.
The Georgian Foreign Ministry has responded to the recent detention of 26-year-old Belarussian activist, journalist and blogger Roman Protasevich by the Belarusian government at a Minsk airport late yesterday, stating that the ‘forcible detention is completely unacceptable.’ Belarus forced the plane, which was flying from Athens to Lithuania, to land in Minsk claiming there was a bomb threat to the aircraft.
A rally held in Tbilisi on Tuesday by a local non-governmental organisation and involving Belarusian citizens residing in Georgia asked the government to provide diplomatic support for protesters in Belarus.
Georgia’s State Security Service and US Terrorist Screening Center signed an Intergovernmental Agreement today to prevent and address terrorism through joint efforts.
State security agencies from Georgia and Belarus have penned a cooperation deal that will see both countries come together to jointly tackle terrorism, corruption, trans-national and international organised crimes.
The Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili has responded to tweets by the opposition and several former foreign diplomats critical of the anti-terrorism and anti-corruption agreement signed with Belarus back in 2016, stating that the ‘ordinary agreement’ poses no threats to anyone, including the Belarus citizens who are in Georgia.
The Georgian Revenue Service on Sunday rejected as “disinformation” a story aired on TV Pirveli channel that alleged an American-made radio transmitting and receiving device had been sent by a Georgian-based company through an intermediary country and eventually to Belarus, in circumvention of sanctions imposed on Russia and Belarus since the start of the war in Ukraine.