Georgian government welcomes Germany‘s propsal to put Georgia on safe country list
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The German government’s proposal to put Georgia on the safe country list means the recognition of reforms carried out in the country, Georgian Foreign Minister David Zalkaliani said in a statement released yesterday.
The bill initiated by the German Interior Ministry which has been already approved by the federal government now needs to be voted by German lawmakers to come into play.
"Georgia reacts immediately to each violation of the visa free rules by Georgian citizens. We have a positive dynamic regarding decreasing the number of asylum seekers and all the initiatives put forward by the Georgian government have been supported by our German partners during the last few months,” Zalkaliani said.
German and Georgian officials believe that putting Georgia on the list will decrease the number of Georgian asylum seekers in Germany, as well as the illegal stay of Georgians in the country, which may create threats to the Georgia-EU visa waiver.
Georgia is already regarded as a safe country by Austria, France, Belgium, Bulgaria, Island, Israel and Luxemburg.
The federal government of Germany has approved a bill initiated by the German Interior Ministry, which supports putting Georgia on the safe country list.
The number of Georgian citizens seeking asylum in EU member states has significantly decreased, the Chair of the Committee on European Integration of the Georgian Parliament Tamar Khulordava said.
The number of Georgian citizens seeking asylum in Germany has decreased dramatically in May, compared to the previous data, the statistics from the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees of Germany has revealed.
Georgian Interior Minister has discussed steps taken by Georgia towards reducing asylum seekers from the country with his German colleague Horst Seehofer pointing out that there is a positive dynamic in terms of a decrease in their number.
A Georgia-German business forum was held today in German city of Frankfurt, where Georgian Economy Minister Giorgi Kobulia delivered his speech and talked about German-Georgian relations.
A trilateral format of political consultations has been created between Georgian, French and German deputy foreign ministers to further enhance relations between the three countries.
The Spiegel has published a story examining safety across the world using the data of different research organisations and ultimately assesses Georgia “as safe as Germany”.