Grigol Liluashvili, the Head of the State Security Service of Georgia, and Catherine De Bolle, the Executive Director of Europol, the European Union’s law enforcement agency, on Wednesday signed a deal on exchange and protection of secret information.

The document is based on an agreement on operational and strategic cooperation signed between Georgia and Europol in 2017, aimed to create a legal basis for exchange and mutual protection of confidential information between the parties.

The agreement would give the sides an opportunity to further strengthen cooperation in combating crime.

The deal will come into play after its ratification by the Parliament of Georgia.