On 27 January, the EU Council decided to suspend visa facilitation agreements between the EU and Georgia. This means that Georgian diplomats and officials will have to apply for visas when travelling to the EU.
This was announced on Tuesday by EU Council spokesman Johannes Kleis.
The decision is a reaction to Georgia's adoption last year of the ‘Law on Transparency of Foreign Influence’ and a legislative package on ‘’Family Values and Protection of Minors‘’.
The EU considers that these laws undermine the fundamental rights of the Georgian people, including the freedom of association and expression, the right to privacy, the right to participate in public affairs, and reinforce the stigmatization and discrimination.
The actions taken by Georgia violate the basic principles on which the assistance agreement was concluded and are contrary to the interests of the EU and its Member States.
The proposal is also a response to the brutal crackdown by the Georgian authorities against peaceful protesters, politicians and independent media, which began after the government announced on 28 November 2024 that it would cease negotiations with the EU by 2028.
The visa facilitation agreement will be suspended for the following categories:
- members of official delegations of Georgia who participate in official meetings and other events held on the territory of the EU country by intergovernmental organisations
- members of national and regional governments and parliaments of Georgia, the Constitutional Court of Georgia and the Supreme Court of Georgia
- holders of diplomatic passports, Georgian citizens who hold ordinary passports will continue to enjoy visa exemption for short-term trips to the EU.
The EU-Georgia Visa Facilitation Agreement entered into force on 1 March 2011. It was aimed at facilitating the issuance of visas to Georgian citizens for stays in the EU of no more than 90 days in any 180-day period.
The agreement contains a clause that allows each party to ‘suspend the whole or part of this agreement for reasons of public order, defence of national security or protection of public health’.
As a reminder, on 1 March 2017, the Council and the European Parliament adopted a regulation to fully exempt Georgian citizens from the requirement to hold a visa when travelling to the EU.
Politics
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