Europe Visa Liberalization Recommendation Expected Next Week

TBILISI - The European Commission will present its recommendation on Georgia’s visa-liberalization regime to the European Parliament next week, said the head of the Parliamentary Committee for European Integration, Levan Berdzenishvili.

If the commission moves forward with a positive recommendation, Brussels will hold a vote for the initiative and the relevant agencies to facilitate the visa process will be created within 2-6 months, Berdzenishvili said.

A visa liberalization agreement between Georgia and the EU was launched in June 2012 and is expected to come into force within six months. Georgians holding biometric passports will then be able to stay in the Schengen Zone countries without for up to 90 days in a 180-day period.

In December 2015, the European Commission gave a green light to moving forward on liberalizing Georgia’s visa regime with the Schengen Zone.

By Zviad Adzinbaia

Edited by Nicholas Waller