Grigol Gegelia: The self-proclaimed Government plans to subordinate the Intelligence Service to the State Security Service – A targeted attack on Georgian national institutions

Grigol Gegelia, one of the leaders of Lelo – For Strong Georgia, stated that the government’s plan to place the State Intelligence Service under the control of the State Security Service (SSS) represents a deliberate attack on national institutions.

Speaking at a briefing held at the party’s headquarters, Gegelia warned that such a move would lead to an excessive monopolization of power by the SSS.

“Alarming information has emerged: Georgia’s self-proclaimed government is planning to subordinate the Intelligence Service to the State Security Service, which constitutes a deliberate assault on Georgian national institutions – particularly on an independent institution where many of its members are individuals who reject Russia and the pro-Russian political course.

These are precisely the people with the longest and most fruitful experience in cooperation with Western agencies – something unacceptable to Russia, and therefore also unacceptable to Georgia’s pro-Russian government, which is doing everything it can to dismantle independent national institutions and halt Georgia’s pro-Western course.

This move will undoubtedly degrade the quality of intelligence work, reduce its effectiveness, and pose serious problems for the Georgian state, especially amid the grave challenges the country is currently facing.

It is a clear example of the dangerous over-monopolization of power by the SSS, which would result in the further strengthening of an already overgrown and threatening state institution – turning it into something more akin to a monster than a democratic agency, entirely unlike institutions in democratic states.

I want to address every officer directly: very soon this criminal regime will come to an end, and Georgia will have a new national government that, together with you, will do everything necessary to ensure both foreign and domestic security are protected,” Gegelia declared.