Georgia, U.S. Deepen Ties on Combating Nuclear Smuggling

Georgia and the United States sighted on February 27 an agreement to provide Georgia’s state agencies involved in combating nuclear smuggling with modern equipment and training.

The document represents an addition to already existing agreement signed between the two countries in February, 2007. After the August war it has been decided to upgrade the agreement and include additional needs that had become apparent since the original agreement was signed, according to the U.S. embassy in Tbilisi.

“The Addendum that has been sighed today deepens U.S. and Georgian cooperation on combating nuclear smuggling and broadly supports the principles of the strategic partnership charter,” signed between the two countries on January 9, the U.S. embassy said.

Since early 90s the U.S. provided over USD 275 million in assistance to Georgia to secure nuclear and radioactive materials, to improve border monitoring, to support the Georgian coast guard and to advance nuclear forensics capabilities.

After the August war, the U.S. has approved USD 20 million in funding for providing secure communications and other support to Georgia’s law enforcement agencies and for developing a national response plan for responding to incidents related with radioactive materials.

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