Interior Minister: state border “under control”, entry rate of Russian citizens lower than 2019
In his comments, Gomelauri said the state border was “controlled at a very high level” by the Ministry and the State Security Service. According to Gomelauri, the Georgian side has recently tightened border controls, which resulted in a refusal of entry to 180 foreign citizens. Photo: Ministry of Internal Affairs
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About 20,000 Russian citizens have entered Georgia since February 24, compared to 40,000 in the same period in 2019, Vakhtang Gomelauri, the Interior Minister of Georgia, said on Wednesday in response to rumours about “unprecedented level” influx of Russian citizens into Georgia over the recent days on the backdrop of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
In his comments, Gomelauri said the state border was “controlled at a very high level” by the Ministry and the State Security Service. According to Gomelauri, the Georgian side has recently tightened border controls, which resulted in a refusal of entry to 180 foreign citizens.
The security environment in the country “is under full control”, the SSS said in a statement recently, adding it was actively taking “all necessary measures” together with relevant agencies to minimise possible risks and challenges related to the movement across the border.
The security body also noted the number of people entering the country over the recent days did not exceed visitor trends of the same period from previous years.
The Georgian government has demonstrated a very high level of crisis management several times, Levan Davitashvili, the Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development, said on Tuesday.
The State Security Service of Georgia has responded to rumours about “massive and uncontrolled” influx of foreign nationals - Russian and Belarusian citizens in particular - into Georgia over the recent days by rejecting the speculation and announcing state security is “under full control”.
The number of Russian citizens entering the territory of Georgia over the recent days is in the pre-pandemic range, Georgia’s Economy Minister Levan Davitashvili said on Monday.
Despite challenges and provocations, the Government will maintain “peace, security and stability” for our citizens and for the country, Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili told Monday’s Government meeting.
The “radical opposition” in Georgia has “unleashed a powerful information war against the Georgian Government and its own country”, Mamuka Mdinaradze, the Executive Secretary of the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party, told a briefing on Wednesday.
As an ordinary Georgian and the Minister of Internal Affairs, I once again express my full and open support to our friendly Ukrainian people, Vakhtang Gomelauri told the Georgian Parliament on Thursday during his Minister’s Hour address at the lawmaking body.
Georgia’s Interior Minister Vakhtang Gomelauri thanked the country’s foreign partners for their “significant support” of the Ministry at the Georgian Parliament on Thursday, while also highlighting areas of ongoing cooperation.
The Interior Ministry carried out the “most large-scale rearmament” of law enforcement units in years in 2021, Minister Vakhtang Gomelauri told the Georgian Parliament on Thursday while also revealing other initiatives of equipping interior services with modern hardware.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) is doing “its best to ensure law and order” in Georgia and taking “all possible preventive measures” to protect its borders, Vakhtang Gomelauri, the Minister of Internal Affairs, told the Parliament of Georgia on Thursday.
Latvia will donate a helicopter to the Georgian Interior Ministry following the signing of a memorandum between Nikoloz Sharadze, the Head of the Ministry's Border Police and Guntis Pujāts, the Chief of the Latvian State Border Guard, the Ministry announced on Tuesday.
Major General Nikoloz Sharadze, the Head of the Georgian Ministry of Internal Affairs' Border Police force, discussed ongoing joint projects and plans for future cooperation with Kathryn Insley, the United States Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for International Security, and representatives of the Export Control and Border Security Programme on Saturday.
Georgia’s revenue service on Thursday rejected TV reports that alleged a drastic increase in the number of individuals crossing the country’s northern border from Russia over the past days by saying there was “no sharp difference” observed in the figures over the past 10 days.
Georgian finance minister Lasha Khutsishvili on Monday responded to a statement by the president of the country Salome Zourabichvili on the possibility of reviewing Georgia's "fairly liberal" visa rules with Russia, saying there was “no need” for a review “at this stage”.