EU senior official praises Georgian reforms, promises visa-free travel soon

Georgia has received another strong message of support and promise that Georgians will soon be able to travel to the European Union (EU) visa-free from a senior EU official.

EU Commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship Dimitris Avramopoulos is on an official visit in capital Tbilisi, where he met Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili this afternoon.

"I’m looking forward to the moment, when Georgian citizens begin travelling to Schengen countries without a visa and this will be a well-deserved achievement of Georgia,” the Commissioner said.

He spoke at a press conference together with Kvirikashvili following their meeting.

The EU official noted within the visa liberalisation dialogue with the EU, Georgia had done much and implemented comprehensive legislative reforms.

"The reforms implemented by the Government of Georgia have received the highest assessment,” Avramopoulos said.

"I’d like to once again praise the Georgian Government for these reforms. The progress report issued last December positively assessed the work done and said Georgia had met all benchmarks during its visa liberalisation process.”

"A huge amount of work has been done and today we see that there are very serious, positive steps taken.”

The Commissioner also said he believed the European Parliament would support the European Commission’s offer and Georgians would soon be given the right to visa-free travel.

"The reforms that had been implemented in the framewort of the visa liberalisation are beneficial not only for Georgian citizens but are very efficient for Georgia’s political system,” he said.

"I think the European Parliament will support our initiative and this will happen very soon.”

"As soon as the decision is confirmed Georgian citizens with a biometric passport will no longer need visa for a 90-day tourist, business or family visits to Schengen states.”

Avramopoulos stressed visa liberalisation would not allow Georgian citizens to gain employment in the EU.

Meanwhile Georgia's PM said he believed the visa liberalisation process would be concluded in the "nearest months”, giving Georgian citizensm the right to freely travel to the EU.