12 Eouropean countries want immediate visa free travel for Georgia
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The foreign ministers of 12 European countries are calling for immediate cancellation of the European Union (EU) visa regime for Georgia and Ukraine and allow these citizens to travel to the EU visa-free.
The need to quickly provide visa-free entry to the EU for citizens of Georgia and Ukraine was pointed out in a joint statement issued by the Ministers after their meeting in Latvia.
The foreign ministers of countries within Northern Europe, the Baltic States and the Visegrad Group convened for a meeting at the Baltic Sea resort town of Jurmala, Latvia, on Friday.
The countries involved were Denmark, Iceland, Norway, Finland, Sweden, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland and Hungary.
The conference was devoted to security issues, energy cooperation, questions related to Eastern partnership and other European problems.
"The ministers pointed to the need to immediately grant the right of visa-free travel to [the citizens of Georgia and Ukraine]," Latvian Foreign Ministry Edgars Rinkevics said after the two-day meeting.
The same was confirmed in the joint statement of the ministers following the meeting.
"The ministers noted the need without delay to provide a visa-free regime for Ukraine and Georgia,” the statement read.
The ministers also reaffirmed their readiness to continue to support the implementation of the Association Agreements with Georgia, Ukraine and Moldova, and stressed the need for cooperation with other Eastern partnership countries.
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.
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.
Georgia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Mikheil Janelidze began his official visit in Stransbourg, France today by attending high-level meetings to show the importance of Georgia’s fast integration into Europe.
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.
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.
Prime Minister of Georgia Giorgi Kvirikashvili has met with Defence Minister of Finland Jussi Niinisto today. The pair discussed bilateral relations and cooperation between Tbilisi and the newly-launched European Center of Excellence for Countering Hybrid Threats in Helsinki.