The Ambassador of the European Union to Georgia Paweł Herczyński said the bloc was supporting a reform of civilian supervision of the country’s security sector, which he described as “another very important, and a necessary change for Georgia”.

Herczyński noted the reform represented a “long-term process” that required “everyone's cooperation” in parliamentary and judicial oversight of security forces.

He said this reform was one of the nine conditions set out by the European Commission in November for opening EU accession talks with Georgia.

The official added the EU had been funding research, and collaborating with civil society organizations engaged in this “very important sphere”, aiming to ensure Georgia “gradually meets all the best international standards” in security sector oversight.

The Ambassador featured in a presentation of Democratic Control of the Security Sector: Challenges and Prospects for Reform, a conference held by the Social Justice Centre and the Caucasus Research Resource Centre Georgia.