The EU Ambassador to Georgia, Paweł Herczyński, has said that the member states may decide to suspend visa-free travel for nationals of Georgia for a period of six months following the country’s adoption of the controversial “foreign agents” law.
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In an interview, Ambassador Herczyński said that the member states are currently considering what measures can be taken towards Georgia.
He noted that the member states may go with the visa suspension option, suggesting that it is more likely that the EU removes visa-free privileges for Georgians than take any other measure, Schengen.News reports.
According to Ambassador Herczyński, not all member states need to be in favour of the visa-free travel suspension for Georgia.
Since only the majority of the member states need to vote for the suspension, Ambassador Herczyński said that the EU may move forward with the suspension.
However, Ambassador Herczyński stressed that he would regret such a decision. He said that in case the EU decides to suspend visa-free travel, citizens of Georgia will be the ones who will be affected the most and not the government.
At the same time, he highlighted that the goal of the EU is not to punish ordinary citizens.
Several EU Countries Have Already Pushed for Visa-Free Travel Suspension for Georgia
According to some officials, the countries that have already pushed for this measure are Czechia, Estonia, the Netherlands, and Czechia.
As revealed, these four countries believe that this measure is the only one that would make the Georgian authorities reflect on the matter.
In addition to the above-mentioned, the EU officials said that the authorities are also considering some other measures that can be taken against Georgia. However, they did not provide any other specific details.
Apart from the country risking to have the visa-free travel privilege to the bloc suspended, the EU authorities have said that the decision of Georgia to adopt the “foreign agents” law is also a major setback for the country’s EU accession process.
On the other hand, the Georgian authorities have claimed that the suspension of visa-free travel to the EU is impossible and very improbable.
According to the Georgian Vice Prime Minister, Tea Tsulukiani, there are several procedural issues that would not allow the EU to revoke the visa-free travel regime.