PM Garibashvili: anti-terrorism agreement with Belarus not against anyone, including Belarus citizens
Georgian PM Irakli Garibashvili has stated that the country’s enemies have tried to use an ‘ordinary agreement’ signed with Belarus to damage Georgia’s image: Photo: government of Georgia press office.
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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.
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.
Garibashvili explained that the agreement was signed with Belarus five years ago when the western countries had normal relations with the country and that the agreement had only entered into force earlier this month.
The turmoil around the issue is a classic example of fake news and how the country's enemies are trying to use an ordinary issue against state interests,” Garibashvili said.
❗️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
He stated that many western countries had such an agreement signed with Belarus.
Earlier the Georgian State Security Service responded to the ‘disinformation’ and said that it was a ‘deliberate campaign’ against the state and the agency.
The agency said that the agreement covered cooperation against terrorism, corruption as well as other international and transnational organised crimes.
We have such an agreement signed with the US, UK, France, Lithuania and other NATO and EU-member countries,” said the agency.
The SSS said 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.
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.
Protest rally in support of detained Belarusian activist, journalist and blogger Roman Protasevich was held at the Embassy of Belarus in Tbilisi yesterday.
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.
Georgia and Belarus have signed an intergovernmental economic commission protocol, which will serve as a roadmap for the realisation of socio-economic projects between the two countries.
The Georgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) has dismissed Russian media reports claiming Belarus has started a procedure to recognise the independence of Georgia’s Russian-occupied regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia (Tskhinvali), calling them 'disinformation.'