Intelligence Online: French intelligence agents recalled from Tbilisi following Georgian counterintelligence operation
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A recent operation by Georgian security services has strained diplomatic relations between France and Georgia, leading to the urgent recall of French intelligence operatives, according to French media reports.
Antoine Izambard, the editor of Intelligence Online, reported in an article published on June 3 that France's foreign intelligence agency was forced to withdraw two of its agents from Tbilisi back to Paris.
“This was initially a clever move in Georgia by France's foreign intelligence service, which involved recruiting a member of the inner circle of the country's informal ruler”, Izambard noted. “However, everything turned against French intelligence itself when Georgian counterintelligence uncovered the operation”.
According to the report, the fallout began after the State Security Service of Georgia exposed the General Directorate for External Security - France's external intelligence agency - recruiting a key individual close to Georgia's billionaire former Prime Minister, Bidzina Ivanishvili.
To prevent a severe diplomatic crisis, the Georgian Government reportedly refrained from officially declaring the French operatives persona non grata. Instead, Tbilisi quietly demanded their immediate withdrawal from the country, threatening to publicly expose their identities if France failed to comply.
This development follows a public warning issued on May 8 by Mamuka Mdinaradze, Georgia’s Vice Prime Minister and State Minister for the Coordination of Law Enforcement Agencies. In his statement, Mdinaradze pointedly warned foreign intelligence services, including those of allied nations, demanding they withdraw operatives engaged in espionage activities on Georgian soil.
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