868 Georgian citizens deported from EU member states in 3 months as part of readmission deal
EU-Georgia readmission agreement entered into force on March 1, 2011. Photo: Nino Alavidze/Agenda.ge
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The Georgian interior ministry on Friday said 868 Georgian citizens had been deported from several European Union member states over the past three months for violation of mandatory terms of stay in the countries.
The ministry said 525 of the individuals had been deported from Germany between July and September, which was followed by deportations from France (176), Greece (33), Poland (33), Switzerland (23) and Spain (17).
The state body noted 873 applications had been studied in total, of which 868 were approved and five were rejected as part of the EU-Georgia readmission agreement that entered into force in 2011.
The agreement stipulates terms for deportation of Georgian citizens living illegally in the territory of the EU, as well as the readmission of citizens of third countries to Georgia.
Georgia's submission of an official application for European Union membership marks a new stage of the country's relationship with the EU and in the process of its integration into the Union, the Head of the Georgian mission to the EU, Vakhtang Makharoblishvili, said in an interview released by Imedi channel on Thursday.
Georgian citizens traveling to a Schengen country with which Georgia has a visa-free travel regime but who do not possess the necessary documents may be refused to cross the Georgian state border, says a new law passed today in parliament. Deputy Speaker of Parliament of Georgia Kakha Kuchava said there have been many cases when travellers crossed the border of Georgia without having a return ticket, or hotel reservation, or means of subsistence and a citizen was sent back to Georgia.
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.
The countries from which Georgians have been returned include Germany, Switzerland, Belgium and Island.
A total of 1,070 Georgian citizens have been deported from several European Union member states over the past three months for violations of mandatory terms of stay in the countries, the Georgian Interior Ministry said on Thursday.