State Security Service report: foreign special services’ attempts to interfere in public, political life a “challenge” for Georgia in 2021
Delivered on Monday, the report said hybrid warfare tools were “actively used” throughout the year to gain leverage over the Georgian public, and pointed to “disinformation and propaganda campaigns against state interests”. Photo: State Security Service
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Activities of foreign special services designed to interfere in the public and political life of Georgia were a challenge for the country in 2021, an annual report of the State Security Service to the Georgian Parliament said.
Delivered on Monday, the report said hybrid warfare tools were “actively used” throughout the year to gain leverage over the Georgian public, and pointed to “disinformation and propaganda campaigns against state interests”.
Areas of interest and aspirations of foreign special services were revealed by Georgian state services during 2021 and as a result of counterintelligence measures taken to “detect and prevent threats”, the document also noted.
According to the report, “almost all aspects” of the ongoing political and socio-economic processes in Georgia became targets of “special interest” of the intelligence services of foreign countries during the year.
[F]oreign special services took active interest in current defence activities and future plans [of the country]. These were related to the process of Georgia's Euro-Atlantic integration and defence systems' approximation to NATO standards,” the report noted.
Global security challenges and the security situation in the Black Sea region in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine were discussed on Wednesday during a meeting between Georgian Defence Minister Juansher Burchuladze and NATO Assistant Secretary General for Intelligence and Security David Cattler.
The State Security Service of Georgia has launched an investigation into possible attacks on Georgian state officials following comments by Gia Volski, the Vice Speaker of the Parliament, the Security Service told Imedinews on Friday.
The Georgian State Security Service officials have demanded “unconditional release” of Georgian citizens illegally arrested by the Russian occupation forces, during the latest meeting of the Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism in the central Georgian village of Ergneti, the state agency said on Tuesday.
The State Security Service (SSS) of Georgia on Tuesday urged Ukraine’s military intelligence to provide evidence of claims of secret ties between Georgian and Russian state services for organising smuggling of sanctioned goods through Georgian territory.
The forces carrying out occupation of central Georgia’s Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) region were observed in 130 cases of illegal ‘borderisation’ on the administrative boundary throughout 2021, while nine such incidents noted along the boundary separating the occupied northwestern Abkhazia from the Georgian territory, the annual report of the Georgian State Security Service said.
Five citizens of Georgia were arrested in 2021 for membership in terrorist organisations, the State Security Service said in its annual report that was released on Monday.Five citizens of Georgia were arrested in 2021 for membership in terrorist organisations, the State Security Service said in its annual report that was released on Monday.
Hybrid threats and disinformation against Georgia’s Western integration and “additional challenges” created for the country by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine were noted by Aleksi Batiashvili, the Deputy Head of the State Security Service of Georgia, in his report on the work of the agency to the Parliament on Friday.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili on Monday commended the “crucial role” of the Georgian State Security Service agency in ensuring stability and security in the country and “strengthening Georgia”, in remarks for the seventh anniversary of the body.
The Georgian state security service on Tuesday said its counterintelligence department had prevented the assassination of an Israeli citizen in the country by a group involving individuals with Pakistani and dual Georgian-Iranian citizenships, who have been arrested.
The Cybersecurity Bureau of the Ministry of Defence of Georgia has joined the Global Forum of Incident Response and Security Teams, an international organisation bringing together computer incident response professionals from governments, commercial and educational institutions.
Russia used its ongoing aggression against Ukraine to “intensify its annexation efforts” in Georgia’s occupied Abkhazia and Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) regions last year, a report by the Georgian State Security Service said.
The Georgian State Security Service hosted a two-day seminar for employees of the country’s Public Defender’s Office on the topic of national security.