EU suspends visa-free regime for Georgian officials over controversial laws

The foreign ministers of the European Union member states decided today to suspend parts of the EU-Georgia visa facilitation agreement, due to the adoption of controversial laws in that country, which means that some Georgian diplomats and officials will again need visas to enter the Union.

Georgian citizens with ordinary passports will still not need visas for short stays in the EU, the Council of the EU announced.

The suspension includes members of official Georgian delegations attending official meetings and other events in EU member states, members of the Georgian state and regional governments, parliament and Constitutional Court, as well as holders of diplomatic passports, it said.

Once the partial suspension enters into force, EU member states may adopt measures to apply the visa regime to holders of diplomatic, service and special passports, the statement said.

Today's decision by the EU Council is a reaction to last year's adoption of the Law on Transparency of Foreign Influence, known as the Foreign Agents Law, and a package of laws on "family values ​​and the protection of minors," it added.

The EU believes that these laws undermine the fundamental rights of the Georgian people, including freedom of association and expression, the right to privacy and the right to participate in public affairs, and that they increase stigmatization and discrimination, it said.

Georgia's moves, it is alleged, violate the basic principles on which the visa facilitation agreement was concluded and are contrary to the interests of the EU and its member states.

The EU proposal is also a response to the Georgian authorities' violent repression of peaceful protesters, politicians and independent media, which began after the government announced on November 28 that it was suspending negotiations with the EU until 2028, it added.

The EU-Georgia visa facilitation agreement entered into force in March 2011 and was intended to facilitate the issuance of visas to Georgians for stays in the EU of up to 90 days in any 180-day period.

In March 2017, the Council of the EU and the European Parliament adopted a decision completely abolishing visas for Georgian citizens when traveling to the EU.