TBILISI. Nov 12 (Interfax-AVN) - A German delegation led by Interior Minister Otto Schily will arrive in Georgia in late November to discuss bilateral cooperation including the provision of aid for reforming the State Border Guard Department.
"The reform will have three stages covering a period from 2003 to 2007 so that apart from controlling borders the Georgian border guard system would get law-enforcement and police functions, as well as the right to conduct investigation," chief of the department's press service Shalva Londaridze told Interfax-Military News Agency on Tuesday.
He said that a group of German border police experts led by Udo Buchholder worked on recommendations for the reform gratuitously in July.
Londaridze stressed the cooperation in the sphere will continue during Schily's stay in Georgia. The German experience in the sphere is being successfully used by Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic and Ukraine, he said.
According to Londaridze, appropriate financing of the department is needed to make reforms successful. "We requested GEL27m (USD12.44m) for this year, but the budget allocated just one third of the sum," he added.