Good morning,
It’s a pleasure for me to be in Tbilisi and meet PM Giorgi Kvirikashvili and Members of the Government.
Dear all,
This gives me the chance to personally congratulate the Georgian authorities for the outstanding reforms they have made since the launch of the Visa Liberalisation dialogue in June 2012.
The report that we issued in December last year provided a positive assessment and confirmed that Georgia met all the benchmarks under its Visa Liberalisation Action Plan.
In light of the progress achieved, the Commission made a proposal on 9 March to the Council and the European Parliament to lift visa requirements for the citizens of Georgia.
We have proposed to transfer Georgia to the list of countries whose citizens can travel without a visa to the Schengen area.
Let me emphasise that this is an important step forward in strengthening people-to-people contacts as well as business, social and cultural ties between the EU and Georgia.
I would like to commend the Georgian authorities on the progress achieved: not only because this is a significant achievement for the citizens of Georgia but also because the reforms undertaken under the Visa Liberalisation Roadmap are equally beneficial for the Georgian society and political system
I sincerely hope that the Council and the European Parliament will adopt our proposal soon.
Once adopted, Georgian citizens who have biometric passports will no longer require visas when they travel to the Schengen area for up to 90 days for business, tourist or family purposes.
However, let me be clear: visa exemption does not provide for the right to work in the EU.
And the proper use of the visa-free rules will be important –but I know that the Georgian government has started to inform its citizens about this.
Dear friends,
Let me finish by saying that I look forward to the moment when Georgian citizens will start travelling to our Schengen area without visas, the way EU citizens have been doing to Georgia since 1 June 2006.
It will be a well-deserved moment for Georgia and its people.
Thank you.