SSSG Names Russia's Expansionary Policy as Main Threat to Georgia in 2019

The occupation of the territories of Georgia and the illegal military contingent of the Russian Federation deployed in the occupied regions still represent existential threats to the state of Georgia, reads the 2019 report of the State Security Service.

The report emphasizes that the Russian Federation methodically continues to use the political circles in the occupied regions for its own purposes.

"The Russian Federation has been traditionally actively using the 'political and economic' instability in occupied Abkhazia, which, in many cases, is inspired by it, and pushes the de facto regime to make decisions that serve the interests of Moscow. As for the occupied Tskhinvali region, the current de facto regime openly supports the unification of the occupied territory with the Russian Federation,” reads the report.

It further notes that the financial dependence of the regions on the budget of the Russian Federation is still high, in particular, the share of Russian aid in the so-called state budget of Abkhazia is 47% and in the case of the Tskhinvali region, 85.2%.

The same report notes that the current situation in the occupied territories represents a favorable environment for illegal financial transactions.

The report assesses the activities of Russian special services and military contingent illegally deployed in the occupied regions as a threat not only to Georgia but also to the region and Europe.

The State Security Service says that the units of the 7th and 4th military bases of the Southern Military District of Russia, illegally deployed in the occupied territories, conducted more than 100 different types of military exercises in 2019.

The report also notes that the occupation forces and the de facto regimes have deliberately created various artificial barriers to freedom of movement of the local population.

"Illegal borderization has been underway at different sections of the occupation line. The dynamics of borderization clearly showed that this process is well coordinated by the occupation forces with the de facto authorities,” the report said.

By Ana Dumbadze