Georgia Teams up with France against Organized Crime

The Georgian and French interior ministers met today in Paris to sign an agreement to create a joint working group on organized crime. At the meeting, Georgian Interior Minister Giorgi Gakharia assured his French counterpart Gerard Collomb that Georgia is ready to take serious steps to ensure there are no questions about the continuation of the visa-free travel regime for Georgian citizens with the European Union.

According to Agenda.ge, Gakharia touted the agreement as “one step forward for a higher level of cooperation between Georgian and French law enforcers.”

Georgian and French law enforcement agencies have a history of strong cooperation, including the apprehension of 38 members of a criminal network in Greece and France in April alongside Greek forces, and just last week when Spanish police ended a two-and-a-half-year investigation with an Interpol operation that included French and Georgian police to apprehend 129 people, mostly Armenian citizens, on suspicion of a variety of crimes including possession of weapons and stolen jewelry. According to The Telegraph, “more than 70 properties were raided during an operation described by Interpol as one of the largest of its kind ever conducted in Spain. Those detained included several high-ranking members of the international gang.”

The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia reported that the purpose of Gakharia’s visit to France was to further strengthen cooperation in the sphere of justice in Georgia, particularly in response to the challenges that involve illegal migration from Georgia and crimes committed by Georgians under the conditions of the visa-free regime with the EU and the Schengen Zone.

By Samantha Guthrie

Photo: Ministry of Internal Affairs

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