Georgian Minister of Internal Affairs Vakhtang Gomelauri reported to the parliament in the Minister’s Hour format on Wednesday.

Presenting his 2023 annual report to the lawmakers, Vakhtang Gomeluari underscored the significance of Georgia’s receiving EU candidate country status, saying, “Georgia deservedly earned the status of candidate country, amidst having successfully dealt with loads of challenges despite the complex global processes.”

According to Vakhtang Gomelauri, the successful implementation of the projects announced and implemented by the MIA contributed to the status of “a safe country in the international arena.”

The Minister remarked that the Ministry’s key priority is to create a decent working environment for law enforcement officers, improve their social guarantees and upgrade the police infrastructure.

Elaborating on the crime statistics, the Minister said that the rate of registered crime-solving is over 64 per cent, while the facts of murders, attempted murders, and cases of severe health damage have decreased.

The Minister stated that in the Global Law and Order report, Georgia improved its rating and is ahead of France, Italy, Australia, Hungary, Belgium, Canada, Japan, Croatia and others.

He thanked the employees and their leaders for contributing to security “with joint and team efforts.” Gomelauri expressed special gratitude to rescuers for their disaster elimination efforts in the landslide-hit Shovi resort.

The main takeaways from the Minister’s report when speaking about reforms and achievements:

– A special face recognition system was launched at the state border checkpoints of Georgia and international airports to improve crime prevention and response mechanisms;

– As part of the criminal police reform, the development of the Law and Order Officer Institute continued. Officers are already working in Batumi and Rustavi.

– Based on negotiations with Airbus Helicopters, Georgia received the first “H 145.” Two helicopters will be delivered soon.

– To increase the quality and operational efficiency of the investigation, the expert-criminal department started work on the creation of a unified national DNA database.

– The Ministry took decisive steps in the fight against early-age marriage, crimes committed by and against minors, violence against women, and crimes based on discrimination.

– According to the US State Department’s last year’s report on the fight against trafficking, Georgia is at the highest level of assessment.

Speaking about plans for 2024, Vakhtang Gomelauri said that police infrastructure and equipment will be further updated in 2024, and wages of the MIA employees will continue to increase.