Gov’t to consider Eastern Partnership visa-free deal implementation recommendations - Parliament Speaker

Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili on Friday said the Georgian Government would “consider all recommendations” in the sixth report of the European Commission on the fulfilment of visa-free obligations by Eastern Partnership countries and the Balkan states and follow up on their implementation.

In comments on the report, which was published on Thursday, Papuashvili said it was “positive compared to last year’s”, and said implementation of Visa Liberalisation Action Plan was an “achievement made by the ruling Georgian Dream party” and “every effort was being made” to ensure “all steps” were taken in this process.

• Georgia continues to fulfil visa liberalisation benchmarks - European Commission Report

The Parliament official said the Government would take into account “all the recommendations” and if “any issue” needed improvement it would be “certainly improved”. He also noted the country’s citizens were given the opportunity to travel to the European Union without a visa in 2017 due to the Government being a “leader in implementing reforms”.

The report noted Georgia continued efforts to address the issue of “unfounded asylum applications” filed by its citizens in the EU member states, citing “exit-control checks” at the Georgian border crossing points.

The efforts made in the criminal prosecution of persons and groups involved in smuggling of migrants were also emphasised in the document, which said Georgia “cooperates regularly” with EU member states on issues related to visa-free travel, including the prevention of irregular stay of Georgian citizens.