Historic decision:
European Parliament approves visa-free travel for Georgian citizens
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Today is the final stretch of a long marathon Georgia has been running for years: starting in spring, Georgian citizens will be able to travel visa-free to most countries of the European Union.
The European Parliament (EP) voted in favour of visa-free travel for Georgian citizens to the Schengen Area at a plenary session today.
Holders of Georgian biometric passports will now be able to enter the Schengen Area for 90 days within any 180-day period for holiday, business and other purposes except for that of working.
The visa waiver applies to the Schengen Area, which includes 22 EU member states (all except Ireland, the United Kingdom, Croatia, Cyprus, Romania and Bulgaria) in addition to Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.
#Visa waiver for #Georgia approved by #EPlenary 553/66/28 Next step, formal adoption by @EUCouncil | @GabrielMariyapic.twitter.com/z2xOK3Tfmn
— LIBE Committee Press (@EP_Justice) 2 February 2017
European Parliament and Council negotiators struck a deal on visa-free legislation last December. After the amended regulations will be formally approved by the Council of Ministers, the text will be signed and published in the Official Journal of the EU.
The visa waiver for Georgia will enter into force simultaneously with the visa-suspension mechanism, on which EU institutions have already reached an agreement.
Georgia’s Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili congratulated Georgian’s on his official Twitter page.
Congratulations! This is a trully Historic Day! Thank you @Europarl_EN 4 granting #VisaFreeTravel to citizens of #Georgia! #GeoVisaFree#EU
— Giorgi Kvirikashvili (@KvirikashviliGi) 2 February 2017
The EU-Georgia visa liberalisation dialogue began back in 2012 when the EU Commission ruled that Georgia had satisfactorily fulfilled eligibility requirements.
In March of 2016 the Commission presented a legislative proposal to update visa regulations from 2001, transferring Georgia from the list of countries whose nationals require a visa to access the Schengen area to a list of countries whose nationals are exempt from visa requirements.
Debates on visa waiver for Georgia come to an end
Georgia is waiting for the results of a historic vote.
Previously it was believed Georgia would receive the long-awaited EU visa waiver by the end of April 2017, but now European Parliament (EP) members are saying this could happen as early as the beginning of March.
In a letter sent yesterday to the Slovak Presidency [of the CoE], MEPs of the Committee of Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) invited the Council of Europe to begin open talks on Georgia’s visa liberalisation "as soon as possible at the beginning of November”.
European Union (EU) Enlargement Commissioner Johannes Hahn is confident Georgia will be granted visa liberalisation later this year.
The Government of Georgia has sent their thanks to the European Parliament (EP) for supporting visa-free travel for Georgian citizens to the Schengen Area.
You can now find information about the European Union’s ongoing cooperation with Georgia on a brand-new online portal for EU’s neighbouring countries.
As the European Parliament (EP) has given the decisive green light to visa-free travel for Georgia at today’s plenary session, European leaders congratulated Georgia with tweets.
Ambassador of the European Union (EU) to Georgia Janos Herman congratulated Georgia on the historic show of support from the European Parliament (EP) in abolishing visa-requirements for Georgian citizens.
European Parliament (EP) Vice-President Ryszard Czarnecki hopes Georgia will become a member of the European Union (EU).
European Parliament’s (EP) decision to approve visa-free travel for Georgia at yesterday’s decisive vote has made headlines in foreign media.
Minister of Reconciliation and Civil Equality says visa-free travel to the EU is an opportunity for residents of Georgia’s Russian-occupied regions to rescue themselves from the captivity of life behind barbed wires.
European Union (EU) ambassadors have given the green light to the lifting of visa-requirements for Georgians and for the suspension mechanism to be implemented today at a meeting of the Committee of Permanent Representatives (Coreper).
European Union (EU) Commissioner for Migration and Home Affairs Dimitris Avramopoulos said the final green light to lifting visa-requirements for Georgia is a "historic moment” and "one step” forward between Georgia and the EU at a press conference dedicated to Georgia's visa liberalisation
Georgian parliament will host international parliamentary an conference: EU and Partners – Embracing Diversity for Stronger Unity on December 4–5 to discuss integration with the European Union as a framework for promoting internal reforms, pointing out the benefits and challenges associated with the EU-inspired transformation.
The European Commission has published its fourth report on the monitoring of the EU visa free regime with eight countries, including Georgia, and stated that ‘overall Georgia continues to fulfil the visa liberalisation benchmarks and has taken action to address the European Commission’s recommendations.’
The European Parliament calls on the European Union to continue supporting the two Eastern Partnership countries, Ukraine and Georgia, and to promote European reforms and fundamental freedoms in the region.
Georgian Foreign Minister David Zalkaliani says any information that European Union is suspending the visa-free regime with Georgia is ‘a big lie’. “Georgia is fulfilling all of its obligations and no suspension mechanism will enter into force”, he says.
Citizens of over 60 countries including Georgia will be required to apply for receiving authorisation from the European Travel Information and Authorisation System if they want to visit much of Europe starting in November.