Riga Summit will today decide Georgia’s visa free travel future

Today is a big day for Georgia. By the end of the day the country will know whether or not the European Union (EU) has decided to grant Georgian citizens visa free travel to the Schengen area.

The EU’s decision will be voiced in a special declaration that will be released at the Eastern Partnership (EaP) Summit in the Latvian capital Riga later today.

It is understood the final text of the long-awaited declaration is not yet fully agreed and changes to the declaration can be made any time before it is finally released this evening.

Georgia's Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili (second left) stand between German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande. Photo from PM's official Facebook page.

Germany and France are known to be the only skeptical countries about Georgia’s visa liberalisation ambitions. In this sense, some believed it was not a coincidence that Georgia’s Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili was given a seat between German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande at today’s reception held for the heads of delegations in Riga.

The declaration text that outlined the EU’s future relationship with EaP countries was the main topic of discussion at the event. Later today everyone will know how the talk went and what result have been achieved.

Meanwhile the Georgian side expected the declaration to include a paragraph where the EU will specify the exact date of Georgia’s visa liberalisation.

Georgia's Foreign Minister Tamar Beruchashvili, who is accompanying PM Garibashvili to Riga, said December 2015 was the time when Georgia wanted all "technical procedures” completed and Georgian citizens be granted visa free travel to the Schengen zone.

Latvian Prime Minister Laimdota Straujuma seemed optimistic about Georgia's visa free future. She said the final text of the declaration was still under discussion but the "good news” was the declaration would state that if the European Commission’s report on Georgia's implementation of the Visa Liberalisation Action Plan (VLAP) showed the country had met all the criteria, the country would be offered visa free travel next year.

"So it’s good news for Georgia,” the Latvian PM said.

Meanwhile, Georgia is not the only country whom the EU is preparing a declaration about. 

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko seemed satisfied with his negotiations about the declaration texts today. Poroshenko said Ukraine had managed to change the text of the declaration about Ukraine and all of the desirable paragraphs, including one about Ukraine’s visa liberalisation, were now involved in the final draft.

When talking about the Eastern Partnership, EU officials previously underlined Georgia was the front-runner of all six EaP countries. Because of this, some believed if Ukraine’s progress was properly reflected in the declaration, so too will Georgia's. 

Despite this, EU high officials’ recent ambivalent announcements still caused some Georgians to have low expectations about being offered visa liberalisation. They did not expect the EaP declaration would say anything essential about visas. 

So will Georgians be able to travel to Europe without a visa any time soon? The answer to this question will be known in several hours.