For many months we have been saying very openly, and this has been stated by many in Brussels, that we see Georgia’s regression relating to democratic principles and as a result of all the actions taken by the Georgian authorities, all possible options are on the table, including a full or partial suspension of the visa-free regime,” said EU Ambassador to Georgia Pawel Herczyński.
According to him, work is underway in parallel on general regulations regarding visa-free travel for all countries that currently enjoy visa-free travel with the EU. According to the ambassador, this discussion will be concluded by the end of November, and at the end of December the European Commission will issue an annual report.
“As for the issue of suspending the visa-free regime, there are two processes underway at the moment. One process concerns Georgia directly – for many months we have been saying very openly, and this has been stated by many of my superiors in Brussels, that we see Georgia’s regression relating to democratic principles and as a result of all the actions that have been taken by the Georgian authorities, all possible options are on the table, including the full or partial suspension of the visa-free regime. Ministers from the 27 EU member states have been discussing this issue for several months and this discussion will continue. In parallel, work is underway on general regulations regarding visa-free travel for all countries that currently enjoy visa-free travel with the EU. This discussion will be completed by the end of November, and at the end of December the European Commission will issue an annual report, which will indicate how Georgia complies with the visa-free travel regulations, and after that the member states will decide how to respond. This will not be an easy decision – the member states will have to decide what to do, whether to suspend it fully or partially. Whatever decision is made, I cannot speculate and the decision is in the hands of the member states and it will be made by a qualified majority. I know that this issue is very important for the Georgian population,” said Herczynski.
As for the assessment of how Georgia is implementing the recommendations that Georgia received from the EU when it was granted candidate country status, the ambassador explained that on November 4, the next enlargement report will be presented regarding Georgia.
“It will be a very long and substantial document, presented by the European Commission, which will describe in detail what has happened in Georgia over the past year. November 4 is a very important date, on this day a press conference will be held in Brussels, which will be held by European Commission Vice-President Kaja Kallas and European Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos. On the same day, November 4, I will also hold a press conference in Tbilisi to answer detailed questions about how well or badly Georgia is doing,” the ambassador said.
Pawel Herczyński: Two processes are underway, one of which directly concerns Georgia – all possible options are on the table, including a full or partial suspension of the visa-free regime
