EU experts review Georgia’s visa liberalisation progress
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A group of experts are on their way to Georgia to observe the country as it implements the second stage of Visa Liberalisation Action Plan (VLAP), which will ensure visa free travel for Georgian citizens to European Union (EU) countries.
The Visa Liberalisation Assessment Mission will visit Georgia from January 26-30.
Work to allow Georgian citizens travelling visa free to EU states is progressing slowly however the country has achieved a significant milestone and successfully completed the first phase of the VLAP. Georgia started implementing the second stage of the VLAP on October 29, 2014.
Georgia's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Davit Kereselidze said the EU monitoring experts would focus on migration and asylum issues relating to the implementation of phase two of the VLAP.
While in Georgia the EU experts will meet representatives of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Internally Displaced Persons from the Occupied Territories, Accommodation and Refugees of Georgia.
After the monitoring complete their visit to Georgia, they will prepare a report on their observations on Georgia's progress.
Various EU missions will visit Georgia from now until March to evaluate and prepare the progress reports on Georgia’s implementation of the second, third and fourth phases of Visa Liberalisation.
Georgia's Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili expected positive signs would soon appear in terms of Georgia's Visa Liberalisation after the Eastern Partnership Summit (EaP) in Riga, in May 2015.
EU-Georgia Visa Liberalisation Dialogue launched on June 4, 2012, and the VLAP was presented to Georgian authorities on February 25, 2013.
The sustainable implementation of the second stage of Visa Liberalisation Action Plan (VLAP), a set of detailed requirements that Georgia should meet in order to be granted by the EU short-term visa-free regime has been discussed at the Foreign Affairs Ministry.
A member of Germany's Bundestag (Germany's constitutional and legislative body) tasked with developing a report on Georgia for his country's parliament is in Georgia and attending top meetings with Georgian officials.
Newly-appointed European Commissioner for Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Johannes Hahn hopes Georgia will achieve full visa liberalisation with European Union (EU) countries.
"Today we have reached a qualitatively new level in our relations with the European Union (EU)," Georgia's Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili said yesterday after meeting European Commissioner for Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Johannes Hahn.
Alterations to the country’s recently introduced visa law will make it easier for a select group of foreigners to enter Georgia.
Will Georgia be granted a visa free regime with the European Union (EU) at the Riga Summit in May? The outcome is still unclear, as the EU noted it was waiting for an evaluation by European experts before it will make a final decision.