Following up on a proposal of the European Commission from December 2024, the European Council has approved the suspension of parts of the EU-Georgia visa facilitation agreement.
This means that while regular citizens will still be able to enjoy visa-free travel to the EU for short stays, Georgian diplomats and officials will not only now have to apply for a visa, but also no longer benefit from shorter application times, lower visa fees or the possibility to submit fewer supporting documents.
The facilitation agreement was reached on 1 March 2011 in the context of Georgia becoming an EU candidate, looking to join the bloc. However, “the actions taken by Georgia [over the past few months] breach the fundamental principles on which the facilitation agreement was concluded and go against the interests of the EU and its member states,” the Council said in a statement.
The suspension comes after a “Law on transparency of foreign influence” and a legislative package on “family values and protection of minors” were adopted in Georgia last year. The EU considers that these legislations 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 increases stigmatisation and discrimination.
The proposal is also a response to violent repression by the Georgian authorities against the mass peaceful protesters, politicians and independent media that started after the government announced on 28 November 2024 to no longer pursue the opening of negotiations with the EU until 2028.
Fundamental rights and democratic values are core principles of EU integration. Officials that represent a country which trample down these values should not benefit from easier access to the EU.
Tomasz Siemoniak, Polish Minister of the Interior and Administration
The Council has made it very clear that Georgian nationals who are holders of ordinary passports will continue to benefit from the visa exemption when travelling to the EU for short stays. The visa facilitation agreement will only be suspended for the following categories:
- members of Georgia’s official delegations who participate in official meetings and other events held in the territory of an EU country by intergovernmental organisations
- members of Georgia’s national and regional Governments and Parliaments, Georgia’s Constitutional Court and Supreme Court
- holders of diplomatic passports
“We will continue to stand with the Georgian people on their EU path,” Kaja Kallas, High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/Vice-President of the European Commission, said in December last year. “We have already downgraded political contacts and redirected funding away from the authorities towards the Georgian people, to civil society and independent media.”
