European Commission: No new conditions for Georgia’s visa-free regime
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The European Union (EU) will not add any new conditions to the visa liberalisation agreement with Georgia, says a senior EU official.
President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker said the European Commission "fully and unconditionally” supported Georgian citizens to travel to the EU without a visa for a short stay.
Juncker met Georgia’s Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili in Strasbourg, France today and spoke about the visa-free regime. The EU official assured Kvirikashvili Georgia would not have to meet any new conditions for its visa-free travel since the Georgian Government had fully met all the criteria envisaged in its Visa Liberalisation Action Plan (VLAP).
Met @JunckerEU: @GovernmentGeo fully implemented #VLAP@EU_Commissionhttps://t.co/3nvRqN9NVvpic.twitter.com/kRXYP0mTTo
— Giorgi Kvirikashvili (@KvirikashviliGi) April 19, 2016
His comments come one day after German national daily newspaper Die Welt quoted an unnamed source as saying the EU was considering adding a "suspension revision” to the visa liberalisation agreements with Georgia, Ukraine and Turkey if the countries could not fulfill new commitments regarding refugees.
Official Tbilisi did not confirm this comment and noted Georgia had not received any official notice regarding new conditions for its visa liberalisation.
Meanwhile Kvirikashvili thanked Juncker for his personal support in the process of Georgia’s visa liberalisation. The two officials hoped this process would soon be concluded and Georgian citizens would travel to the Schengen area visa free in the "nearest months”.
Kvirikashvili is in Strasbourg to address the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) as a keynote speaker about major challenges facing the modern world.
PACE gathered for its spring session in France on April 18-22.
Georgia’s Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili will address the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) next week as a keynote speaker about major challenges facing the modern world.
Tbilisi celebrates the release of a positive progress report on Georgia's implementation of its Visa Liberalisation Action Plan (VLAP). The European Commission today released the report that said Georgia met all the benchmarks of the VLAP.
Georgia meets all the benchmarks of its Visa Liberalisation Action Plan (VLAP), meaning in early 2016 the European Union (EU) will propose a legislative amendment to let Georgian citizens travel to the EU visa free.
The foreign ministers of 12 European countries are calling for immediate cancellation of the EU visa regime for Georgia and Ukraine and allow these citizens to travel to the EU visa-free.
The European Parliament has positively assessed Georgia’s progress towards visa liberalisation and supports Georgian citizens to travel to the Schengen area visa-free. This message was voiced at the committee meeting yesterday.
Georgia is the European Union’s (EU) key ally in the region, says European Parliament (EP) President Martin Schulz. The EP high official spoke highly of Georgia and of its EU visa-free aspirations while meeting Georgia’s Parliament Speaker David Usupashvili in Brussels, Belgium today.
The European Union's (EU) top enlargement official hopes citizens of Georgia, Ukraine and Kosovo will be able to travel without visas to the EU in 2016.