Georgians may travel visa-free to EU as soon as March
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Visa-free travel to the European Union (EU) for Georgian citizens may be closer than expected.
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.
The EP published the schedule of its plenary sessions on its website yesterday; the issue of Georgia’s visa waiver will be voted on February 2. This is the date that Georgians had been waiting for since mid-December 2016 after three EU institutions agreed on the final text of the visa liberalisation document.
Parliament vote 2.02.2017 #VisaFree for Georgia @GabrielMariya thanks for your work and efforts
— KETEVAN KARDAVA (@KARDAVAKETEVAN) January 12, 2017
EP member and rapporteur on Georgia’s visa liberalisation Mariya Gabriel yesterday said she had been promised by the EU Council that the new regulation on Georgia would be published in the official journal of the EU immediately after the February 2 vote in Parliament.
Normally, it takes 20 days for a new regulation to come into force after it is published in the journal, but Gabriel said she was also promised by the Council that Georgia’s visa waiver will go into effect in three days instead of 20.
"All of this means. . . Georgian citizens will be allowed to travel to the EU visa-free very soon, from the beginning of March”, Gabriel said in her interview with Georgia’s Public Broadcaster.
@GabrielMariya âï¸âï¸ pic.twitter.com/cM4paf9UHv
— KETEVAN KARDAVA (@KARDAVAKETEVAN) January 12, 2017
The EU-Georgia visa liberalisation dialogue started in 2012. Once it goes into effect, 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.
The European Parliament’s Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) has given yet another green light to Georgian visa liberalisation.
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”.
Ambassador of the European Union (EU) to Georgia Janos Herman believes Georgia has never been so close to Europe as it is now.
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.
European Parliament approves visa-free travel for Georgian citizens
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.
