Georgia makes another step towards EU visa-free travel
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The European Parliament’s Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) has given yet another green light to Georgian visa liberalisation.
This means that Georgian citizens are one step closer to visa-free travel to the European Union (EU).
With 42 votes in favour, two against and one abstention today, the LIBE Committee approved a set of amendments to the text of Georgia’s visa liberalisation agreement previously adopted by the European Parliament (EP), European Council, European Commission and Committee of Permanent Representatives (Coreper) of the Governments of Member States.
#Visa waiver for #Georgia: @EP_Justice confirms deal w/ @EUCouncil. Vote in #EPlenary in February | @GabrielMariyapic.twitter.com/aKYJrxZnlW
— LIBE Committee Press (@EP_Justice) 12 January 2017
Welcoming progress on visa liberalisation, Georgia’s Foreign Minister Mikheil Janelidze expressed his gratitude on Twitter towards the European colleagues.
Greatly appreciate the support of #LIBE Committee 4 #Georgia's #Visa.Lib process-Thanks for 2day's voting @GabrielMariya@EP_Justice
— Mikheil Janelidze (@JanelidzeMkh) 12 January 2017
EP member Mariya Gabriel, a rapporteur on Georgia’s visa liberalisation, called on the Council to proceed as soon as possible.
We want our European Union to be surrounded by a ring of friends. Georgia is a strategic partner in our Eastern neighbourhood. Visa liberalisation and the Association Agreement are like an anchor that can stabilise the political course in the long-run”.
She further added that this is not only "bringing Georgian citizens closer to European Union values” but also making sure that the EU is becoming safer.
Voting with an overwhelming majority on #visa waiver @EP sends a strong message of its continual support to #Georgia@EPPGrouppic.twitter.com/WYuSTyXV4a
— Mariya Gabriel (@GabrielMariya) 12 January 2017
EU Enlargement Commissioner Johannes Hahn also welcomed "overwhelming approval of LIBE committee for Georgia's visa liberalisation”.
Now #EPlenary and @EU_Council to follow suit. It will be a good New Year for #Georgian#citizens! 2/2
— Johannes Hahn (@JHahnEU) 12 January 2017
The EU-Georgia visa liberalisation dialogue started in 2012 and is expected to go into effect by the end of April 2017, after which all Georgian citizens holding biometric passports will be able to enter the EU's Schengen Zone without a visa for 90 days in any 180 day period.
However, there are still a number of procedures ahead:
Today’s agreement will be followed by a vote at the European Parliament’s plenary session next month. 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 on the same date as the review of the visa suspension mechanism on which EU institutions already have an agreement.
Georgian citizens are one step closer to visa-free travel to the European Union (EU) after EU diplomats gave the green light to Georgia’s visa liberalisation today.
The European Parliament and the Council of Europe have reached a political agreement today regarding Georgia's visa liberalisation with the European Union, it was announced today.
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”.
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.
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.
Georgia is an exemplary state within the Eastern Partnership initiative, European Union (EU) officials told Georgian Foreign Minister Mikheil Janelidze today.
Final vote on visa waiver comes today
Today is the day Georgia has been awaiting for years. The European Parliament (EP) will decide tomorrow whether visa-free travel to the European Union (EU) for Georgians will be granted or not.
Debates on visa waiver for Georgia come to an end
Georgia is waiting for the results of a historic vote.
Members of the European Parliament have voiced a recommendation to let Georgia join the Schengen Area. The recommendation of letting Georgia in the Area is included in a report on the Eastern Partnership prepared by the European Parliament.
The November 2017 Eastern Partnership Summit should pave the way to set up a trust fund for Eastern partners and reward reforms by offering them customs union, Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) say.
Eighty per cent of Georgians feel relations with the EU are good, while 71 per cent of people in Georgia trust the EU, a recent survey funded by the EU reads.
Georgia, Ukraine and Moldova, three Eastern Partnership countries, have signed a joint statement on the creation of a format of the EU plus the three countries for sectoral integration in transport, energy and other fields and to have full access to four liberties of the EU - free movement of goods, services, capital and the labour force. The statement, which has been signed earlier today on the sidelines of the OSCE Ministerial Council in Bratislava, has been handed to a High Representative of the EU.