Georgian State Security Service has a new head
Grigol Liluashvili had been the deputy head of the Georgian State Security Service since 2017. Photo: State Security Service press office.
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The Georgian parliament has approved Grigol Liluashvili as the new head of the Georgian State Security Service (SSS), replacing Vakhtang Gomelauri in the role.
85 MPs voted for Liluashvili, while eight voted against him in the 150-member parliament.
Liluashvili, who addressed the parliament's Defence and Security Committee yesterday, had served as deputy head of SSS since 2017 and the first deputy head of the same agency since January 2019.
Liluashvili was MP in the 2016 parliament, before being appointed deputy head of SSS in December 2017.
Previously he held high posts at Tbilisi City Hall and the Cartu Group [founded by Bidzina Ivanishvili, the chair of the Georgian Dream ruling party].
Gomelauri became the minister of internal affairs of Georgia last month and the post of the head of SSS has been vacant since then.
Grigol Liluashvili, who has been nominated the new head of Georgia’s State Security Service (SSS), says that the main challenge for Georgia is the occupation of Georgian territories by Russia.Liluashvili, who is addressing parliament’s Defence and Security Committee, told MPs that Russia’s illegal activities at the occupation lines aim to “make influence not only on Georgia but also on the international community.”
The Georgian State Security Service has denied illegal “borderisation” in the village of Kobi in Khashuri Municipality near occupied Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) region. However, it said, Russian occupation forces continue provocative activities along the villages of Chorchana and Tsagveli.
The Georgian government has adopted a National Counterterrorism Strategy. The strategy was developed by a permanent Interagency Commission comprised of different state authorities and chaired by the State Security Service.
Head of Georgia’s State Security Service Vakhtang Gomelauri has reported to parliament today, stating that the number of supporters and the influence of the terrorist Islamic State has “significantly” decreased in Georgia.
The State Audit Office will carry out a financial inspection of Georgia’s State Security Service for the first time this year.
The Georgian State Security Service says that there are groups of people and individuals who are trying to incite national rivalry between ethnic Georgians and Azerbaijanis in Kvemo Kartli and Kakheti regions in the central and eastern parts of Georgia respectively.
The ongoing war in Ukraine and the current threats and challenges in the Black Sea region were in the focus of a meeting between Grigol Liluashvili, the Head of the State Security Service (SSS) of Georgia, and David Cattler, the NATO Assistant Secretary General for Intelligence and Security, on Wednesday.