Germany considering listing Georgia in category of safe countries

Germany is discussing the issue of listing Georgia in the category of safe countries, Georgia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has announced.

The move would be a reaction to Georgia’s progression in human rights and democratic development.

Jan Heker, the German Federal Chancellor's Advisor on Foreign and Security Policy, met yesterday with Georgia’s Foreign Minister Mikheil Janelidze on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference and briefly discussed the issue.

Heker and Janelidze discussed bilateral cooperation between Georgia and Germany, Georgia's European and Euro-Atlantic integration process and the security environment in the region.

Georgia's progress on the path of European and Euro-Atlantic integration was positively assessed, announced Georgia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The officials also talked about visa-free travel for Georgian citizens in the Schengen zone of the European Union and highlighted the importance of this opportunity.

The discussions also focused on challenges related to the violation of the rules of the visa regime by some Georgian citizens and the abuse of the possibility of receiving asylum in EU countries, said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

"The German side expressed its interest in cooperating with Georgia over the ways of solving these problems and gave a positive assessment to the Georgian government's initiatives in this direction. The importance of listing Georgia in a category of safe countries by Germany was also noted taking into consideration the progress of human rights and democratic development in Georgia”, read the press-release from the ministry.