EU Commissioner Hahn: no reason to suspend Georgia-EU visa free deal
European Commissioner Johannes Hahn says that the number of Georgian asylum seekers is not high enough to create any threats to the Georgia-EU visa free deal. Photo: moldova. org.
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European Commissioner for European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn says that the Georgia-EU visa free deal is not at risk as there are no reason for the enactment of the suspension mechanism.
We make a report every year regarding visa liberalisation issues. The last report was made in December 2018. Of course, there are people who have no reason but seek political asylum in the EU [from Georgia]. However, the number of such people compared to the whole number of asylum seekers in the EU member states is insignificant,” Hahn said.
European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker stated yesterday that the EU is happy with the steps of the Georgian government which aim to decrease the number of Georgian asylum seekers abroad.
The Georgia-EU visa free deal came into play in March 2017 and more 300,00 people have already used the opportunity from Georgia.
French, German, Swiss and Swedish ambassadors to Georgia have announced plans to meet with Georgian Interior Minister Giorgi Gakharia in the coming days to discuss ways of decreasing the number of Georgian asylum seekers in their countries.
The process for changing one’s surname has been made more difficult with the amendments prepared by the Ministry of Justice and passed by the Georgian parliament. The new regulations will help the Georgian government to easily identify citizens who violate visa free travel rules while the current law allows a person to change one’s surname 25 times or more on different grounds.
This time last year, a small Georgian delegation led by Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili left for a historic trip on which Georgians travelled visa-free for the first time to the European Union (EU).
Within a year of the Georgia-EU visa free agreement, 192,453 Georgian citizens have visited the Schengen Zone 258,663 times, the Georgian Interior Ministry reports. Deputy Interior Minister Nino Javakhadze stated that in total 1,001 Georgians were refused entry into the EU passport-free zone.
French Interior Minister Christophe Castaner has visited Georgia and signed a deal with his Georgian colleague earlier today, which allows two Georgian officers to be directly involved in the investigations of crimes in France that may involve Georgian nationals.