Georgian Authorities on European Commission Report
People all over Georgia are celebrating the European Commission’s positive final report on Georgia’s visa-liberalization.
President of Georgia, Giorgi Margvelashvili, has welcomed the positive report on the implementation of the visa liberalization action plan and believes that it fully reflects the progress that Georgia has achieved in the last three years.
The President has released a statement in which he states that a very important process is awaiting the country, which must be crowned by the EU’s political decision on officially opening EU borders for Georgian citizens.
“The authorities managed to fully satisfy all the requirements as soon as possible. Now a very important process is awaiting us, which must be completed by the EU's political decision on officially opening of EU borders for Georgian citizens. Our task is to go through this process with dignity and not to spare efforts to reach our goals as soon as possible,” the statement reads.
The President is confident the government, parliament, political parties and society will stay together in realization of the European choice.
Following the European Commission’s report Georgia’s Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili held a special press conference for media representatives.
He spoke “today a dream of many of my fellows and ancestors has come true,” and mentioned this day as historic for Georgia.
"Today is historic day for our country and its citizens. We have stepped forward on the way of European Integration, which will largely determine our future alongside with European family," he said.
The Commission stated that the government successfully fulfilled its commitments and all the necessary reforms for visa liberalization were fully implemented.
“This is the principal agreement on visa-free travel!”
According to Garibashvili, certain stages need to be passed before the final decision, which could take months. However, the most important step has already been taken, he added.
Garibashvili announced that based on the European Commission’s recommendation citizens of Georgia will be allowed to travel within the EU without a visa for the next year.
“Obviously, this does not mean that citizens of Georgia could buy tickets and travel in EU without visa regime from tomorrow. As we know from other countries’ experience, we need to pass several stages before the final decision and it will take several months,” Garibashvili stated.
In Early 2016 the European Commission will present a legislative proposal to amend the regulation and introduce visa liberalization in Georgia.
The report has been posted on the European Commission’s official website today.
In it the progress achieved by Georgia over the last three years in all areas covered by the four blocks of the VLAP is steady and effective.
It demonstrates the commitment and constant efforts of the Georgian government and all state institutions that have fulfilled the VLAP benchmarks.