Georgian Vice PM praises Georgia's special services for spy arrests

Mamuka Mdinaradze, Georgia’s Vice Prime Minister and State Minister for the Coordination of Law Enforcement Agencies, on Saturday said that Georgia’s special services were now effectively working to identify and detain spies, marking a significant change compared to the past.

Speaking on the Imedi TV talk show Open Air - Debates, Mdinaradze argued that during debates over legislation, such as the transparency law, critics often relied on external narratives rather than engaging with domestic arguments, pointing to international actors’ positions as justification for their objections.

“The struggle between us and external actors is so unequal that those legal solutions are often also forced moves. I have had discussions with people during the transparency law, when there were no arguments left, and they would answer, ‘Then why do the US and Europe say it is Russian’. When you criticise our legal solutions, you very well know how much external support there was for that narrative”, he said.

“We have strong special services and I want to thank those I worked with. I am proud that today we are arresting spies. Our country practically never used to arrest spies, and today I can say that yes, we are working, but we must not fall into self-satisfaction”, Mdinaradze concluded.