Commissioner Fule hopes Georgia will enjoy visa-free travel to EU soon

A European Commission high official says the most important step for Georgia in the immediate future is to sign the Association Agreement (AA) with the European Union (EU).

European Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy Stefan Fule stated the process of joining the EU did not end with signing Association Agreement but it was the most important step forward to Georgia’s European integration.

Commissioner Fule and the Speaker of Georgian Parliament David Usupashvili met yesterday at the Justice Hall in Tbilisi and discussed the bilateral ratification of the AA between Georgia and EU.

Fule was interested in the ratification process in the Georgian Parliament and received a lot of information from Usupashvili about the process. Usupashvili also provided Fule with information about how Georgia aimed to inform society about the AA and its benefits.

Commissioner Fule said it was extremely important to involve society in the process of adopting the AA.

"The Association Agreement should not only make Georgia and EU closer but transform coordinated steps between Georgia, Ukraine and Moldova in a more intensified stage since the choice of the three countries is the same," Commissioner Fule stated.

After the meeting Fule told media Georgia would receive recommendations about how to implement the next step of the Visa Liberalization Action Plan (VLAP) plan no later than "after the end of this summer".

"In terms of visa liberalization we discuss three countries - Moldova, which already fulfils all the demands that are necessary for visa liberalization; Ukraine, about which we recommended the member countries to start the second stage of visa-liberalization and as for Georgia, I hope we could issue the same recommendation if not during this summer, at least after the end of it," Commissioner Fule told journalists.

"I hope Georgia will enjoy visa-free travel to the EU in the nearest future," he added.

He said all the agreements were formed in a way that Georgia's breakaway regions Abkhazia and South Ossetia would have an opportunity to benefit from them. He confirmed the EU was strengthening faithfulness towards Georgia's territorial integrity.