European Forum

EU, Georgia sign visa-facilitation agreement

Last week EU-Georgia relations were marked by a historic phase. On 17 June the Union and the South Caucasian country signed an agreement to facilitate the issuing of visas which, from now on will be cheaper and easier for people from Georgia who wish to travel to EU territory, particularly for business or studies.

Following the signing ceremony, the Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs and current holder of EU’s rotating presidency, Miguel Ángel Moratinos, said that despite the "tremendously difficult" situation that Georgia has had to face in recent years, "its future lies in Europe". The Georgian Minister, Grigol Vashdze, described the day as "historic" for the citizens of his country. Vashdze thanked Moratinos for the work of the Spanish Presidency in concluding the liberalisation of visas, since the agreement was reached during the six months of the Spanish presidency.

“The conclusion of a visa facilitation agreement is a concrete step forward in EU-Georgia relations. It is EU's message of openness to the Georgian citizens." Cecilia Malmström, Commissioner for Home Affairs, said. "The visa facilitation and readmission agreements are very tangible result of the Eastern partnership and will promote interaction between citizens of the EU and Georgia and strengthen our cooperation in the fight against irregular immigration.” 'This is part of our commitment to bring Georgia closer to the EU, not only at institutional level but also at peoples' level'', Štefan Füle, Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy, said.

Visa-facilitation
The visa-facilitation will include, among other things, issuing multiple-entry visas with a long period of validity to certain categories of applicants including businesspeople, journalists and family members of Georgian citizens residing in the EU. The visa-facilitation agreement applies to all EU-member states, except of the UK and Denmark.

Procedures to liberalise visas began in June 2008 for Georgia, which now joins the other five Eastern European countries that have signed association agreements with the EU (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Moldavia and Ukraine). Since 2006, the EU has also reached visa liberalisation agreements with Russia, Ukraine, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania and the Republic of Moldavia.

Sources: EU’s Presidency Spain; Civil Georgia