Georgia’s removal from Belgium’s safe country list “no threat” to citizens’ EU visa-free travel - Ambassador

Vakhtang Makharoblishvili, Georgia's Ambassador to the European Union, on Tuesday said Belgium’s decision to remove Georgia from its list of safe countries was “subject to change” and posed “no threats” to visa-free travel for Georgian nationals. 

The Ambassador’s comments followed the removal of Georgia from the list on July 10, with the Internal Federal Public Service noting the decision was based on the opinion of the country’s General Commissioner for Refugees and Stateless Persons, instead of advice of the Federal Public Service of Foreign Affairs.

Makharoblishvili said “any country” could be removed or returned to the list “at some point”, and added the move could be related to “certain technical or statistical data”.

The Ambassador added his office was in “active communication” with the Belgian Government over the issue, and highlighted 16 out of the 20 EU member states recognised Georgia as a safe country. He noted the countries developed “different approaches” for determining the status. 

It is important that we are working with our Belgian colleagues to find out exactly why this could have happened. I can say that we had active consultations with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Belgium, and it had a positive attitude and a recommendation regarding Georgia staying on the list of safe countries”, said the Ambassador. 

He also noted the number of asylum seekers from Georgia to Belgium had increased last year, following the Coronavirus pandemic, but said the figures had decreased in 2023. 

Makharoblishvili also claimed “no communication” had been initiated by the EU on its visa-free travel with Georgia following the removal of Georgia from the list, and added there was “no threat” to the deal as the bloc recognised Georgia as a safe country. 

Belgium introduced the concept of safe countries of origin in 2012, with annual updates made to the list as a major tool in the process of granting asylum to foreign nationals.

Georgia was included in the list in 2016, after the country met certain criteria including the general political and legal situation in the country and protection of human rights, and remained on the roster as of April 7, before its removal from the most recent update last week.