EU to discuss Georgia’s visa liberalisation proposal next week

The European Parliament and Council of Europe will next week start to examine the proposal to offer visa liberalisation to Georgia.

European Union (EU) Commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship Dimitris Avramopoulos said this as he paid his first official visit to Georgia yesterday.

I look forward to t/ moment when Georgian citizens will start travelling to EU without visas https://t.co/dxRd18c58fpic.twitter.com/ulhHaMvz5E

— DimitrisAvramopoulos (@Avramopoulos) April 2, 2016

At the meeting with Georgia’s Foreign Minister Mikheil Janelidze, Avramopoulos confirmed he would continue to cooperate with respective EU institutions on this matter and would intensify efforts to ensure that the visa liberalisation procedures with respect to Georgia are finalised as soon as possible.

The European Commissioner referred to Georgia as a "reliable partner” of the EU, which was further attested by the Georgian Government’s "strong political will” to further integrate with Euro-Atlantic structures and to continue its efforts to reform and embrace EU standards.

Thanks to @Avramopoulos for visit. We had done much&implemented comp. #reforms that received the highest assessment pic.twitter.com/nIabNLAGBX

— Giorgi Kvirikashvili (@KvirikashviliGi) April 2, 2016

At the end of the visit last night, Georgia’s Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili hosted the EU official at an official dinner. After the dinner the two leaders took the funicular, connecting lower Tbilisi to its highest point and viewed the best sights of the Georgian capital from Mtatsminda Hill.