Parliament Committee Chair says “no reason for panic” over visa liberalisation suspension with EU

Maka Botchorishvili, the Chair of the European Integration Committee of the Georgian Parliament, on Friday said there was “no reason to panic” about the European Union activating the suspension mechanism of its visa liberalisation with Georgia.

Botchorishvili’s comments followed a resolution adopted by the European Parliament against the Georgian bill on transparency of foreign influence on Thursday, with the document calling on the European Commission to assess the impact of the bill on the country’s continuous fulfilment of benchmarks of the visa agreement, in particular the marker on fundamental rights - a crucial component of the visa policy.

The statements of the opponents clearly show what their goals are for their homeland, country and citizens. The visa-free travel with the European Union is an achievement that Georgia has received [in 2017] as a result of many important reforms. This is the result that citizens use”, she said in reference to comments by the domestic opposition.

As for the cancellation of the visa-free travel, as it is a political decision to grant visa liberalisation to any state, cancellation is also a political decision, and it is impossible to do this without the consent of member states”, she added.

The official said the suspension mechanism had been developed by the European Commission to “serve a single purpose” of “meeting concerns of member states on increased illegal migration and the hazards it poses to the EU collectively”.

There are no grounds for using the suspension mechanism for Georgia. We have cooperated well with the European Commission and EU member states in order to prevent a similar threat to Georgia after visa-free travel was implemented”, the official noted.

Botchorishvili claimed the opposition had “misled the public” with the prospect of the EU cancelling visa-free travel for Georgian citizens, and added a “justified argument” on a present danger due to migration or absence of “proper cooperation” from Georgia would be needed, along with an argument showing the circumstance possessing a threat to the bloc’s security.