Parliament Speaker: visa-free travel with EU has “opened new horizons” for Georgian citizens

Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili said in a social media message visa-free travel with the European Union, launched seven years ago on this day, had “opened new horizons” and brought “eye-opening opportunities” for Georgian citizens. Photo: Parliament of Georgia

Agenda.ge, 28 Mar 2024 - 18:17, Tbilisi,Georgia

Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili on Thursday said in a social media message visa-free travel with the European Union, launched seven years ago on this day, had “opened new horizons” and brought “eye-opening opportunities” for Georgian citizens.

After a decade of [ruling party] Georgian Dream’s consistent progress towards the EU, inclusive of the EU candidate country status, the visa-free anniversary reminds us of all our achievements on the EU path”, he said.

Exactly 7 years ago, our citizens got the opportunity to freely travel to Europe.

Many expected a mass exodus from Georgia but, from this vantage point, the visa-free travel only opened new horizons and brought eye-opening opportunities for our citizens.

Now, after a decade… pic.twitter.com/yoWpJL7S3d
— Shalva Papuashvili 🇬🇪 (@shpapuashvili) March 28, 2024

Speaking about achievements of the ruling party, Papuashvili mentioned visa-on-arrival travel agreements with “numerous nations”, most recently with China.

[We] are steadfastly engaged in fostering similar partnerships with other countries to deliver tangible benefits to our citizens”, he added.

The Parliament Speaker also noted the Georgian passport ranked 51st according to the global firm Henley & Partners, granting Georgian citizens visa-free or visa-on-arrival travel to 122 destinations.

The European Commission allowed Georgians to travel visa-free to the Schengen area on March 28, 2017. Read the agenda.ge article “How I entered EU without visa” about the historic first visa-free journey from Georgia that traversed from Athens, Greece to Brussels, Belgium.