Georgian Vice PM: State Security Service has gained recognition from larger countries’ intelligence agencies

Mamuka Mdinaradze, Georgia’s Vice Prime Minister and State Minister for the Coordination of Law Enforcement Agencies, on Wednesday said the State Security Service (SSSG) had recently gained significant recognition from intelligence agencies of much larger countries with long-established security institutions.

Speaking at a briefing at the Government Administration, Mdinaradze highlighted what he described as the Service’s recent achievements.

“Only over the past two months, six individuals have been charged with espionage on behalf of the intelligence services of different, mutually hostile countries. Given the nature of intelligence work, even the world's leading intelligence agencies have struggled in recent decades to make such bold decisions within such a short period of time”, he said.

Mdinaradze added that, during the same period, three individuals had been arrested on charges of membership in a terrorist organisation.

He also said the State Security Service continued to make progress in anti-corruption efforts and announced that, for the first time in Georgia's history, the State Security Academy would be authorised to offer a master's programme and award a Master's degree in Security.

“The Security Service recruits dozens of new personnel every month, successfully continuing the reform aimed at renewing and modernising the agency. It can be said that the volume of incoming information is increasing dynamically on a daily basis. The material and technical base is improving significantly, along with the quality of the technical resources essential for an intelligence service”, Mdinaradze said.

“While I cannot go into greater detail, I can say that, in recent times, Georgia's State Security Service has gained significant recognition from the intelligence agencies of much larger countries with a long history in this field”, he concluded.