Georgia Becomes Partner of Europol

TBILISI – Georgia’s Interior Minister Giorgi Mghebrishvili and Europol's Director Rob Wainwright have signed the Agreement on Operational and Strategic Cooperation, meaning that Georgia has become an operative partner of Europol.

“Georgia will cooperate with Europol to its full extent and also strengthen the already-existing effective law enforcement cooperation with EU Member States in tackling transnational crime,” Georgia’s Interior Minister stated.

Rob Wainwright noted that “Europol is committed to strengthening cooperation with Georgia and recognizes that effective law enforcement cooperation is an important element of Georgia’s deepening relationship with the EU."

Georgia’s Prime Minister, Giorgi Kvirikashvili, also attended the signing ceremony. According to him, Georgia is gradually becoming an integral part of the European order. "We are very proud that we have very good dynamics and move forward in terms of integration with the European Union. This agreement is one of the very important proofs of this direction,” the PM said.

Under the agreement, Georgia will begin to exchange operative information and personal data with the European Police Service through secure channels and to receive analysis–based police information from Europol. Georgia will also be sending liaison officers to the Europol Headquarters to ensure closer and more effective communication.

The official website of Europol says that the cooperation agreement between Georgia and Europol was approved by the Council of the European Union and backed by the European Parliament and was signed on 4th April in Tbilisi. The agreement relates to all areas of crime within Europol’s mandate. Georgia will designate a national contact point to act as the central point of contact between Europol and the corresponding authorities in Georgia.

The agreement will officially begin after ratification by Georgia.

“The signing of the Agreement on Operational and Strategic Cooperation concludes the successful negotiations between Georgia and Europol on how to effectively join forces to fight serious and organized crime, and terrorism. After entry into force of the agreement, this new level of cooperation will be important for tackling priority crime areas affecting both the European Union and Georgia, such as drug trafficking, organized property crime, cybercrime and migrant smuggling,” the statement of Europol reads.

#NEWS: Europol @rwainwright67 and Georgia @MIAofGeorgia sign agreement to tackle cross-border crime and terrorism https://t.co/OpqOl3DNO0 pic.twitter.com/6QZ0E8nZa0

— Europol (@Europol) April 4, 2017

Europol is the European Union’s law enforcement agency, tasked with assisting the 28 EU Member States and EU partner nations in their fight against serious international crime and terrorism.

By Thea Morrison