Georgia ready for second phase of visa liberalization

/AzerNews/

By Mushvig Mehdiyev

Georgia expects a decision on visa-free regime with the EU countries to be adopted by spring, State Minister for European Integration Alexi Petriashvili said.

Petriashvili noted that Georgia is ready to move to a new phase of the action plan on visa liberalization.

"European Commission's assessment is of great importance. That's a big step and will lead Georgia to a visa-free regime with the European Union. We should adopt a favorable decision on visa-free regime by Riga Summit in spring," he said.

European Commission approved the second report on Georgia's progress for implementing the visa liberalization. The report states that Georgia meets the demands of the visa dialogue's first phase. The Commission can subsequently start the assessment of the implementation of the second phase's obligations by Georgia.

"I am satisfied with the result of the assessment and would like to congratulate the Georgian government for their diligence. They proved they are ready to implement legislative changes. It is a significant progress and an important step in the process of Georgia's approximation to the EU with the purpose of creating visa-free relations," European Commissioner on Internal Affairs Cecilia Malmstrom said.

The Georgian Foreign Ministry welcomed the European Commission's mentioned decision. It noted that the achieved progress is the result of Georgian government bodies' joint work.

The Georgian government expressed its readiness to meet the demands envisaged in the second phase of visa liberalization.

Georgia has earlier made some corrections to its newly amended visa policy in an effort to keep the right balance between the European Union's requirements and liberal approaches. The updated visa regulations enabled to issue multiple-entry visas for a period of 180 days for the citizens of the countries which apply a visa regime with Georgia. The citizens of the countries which Georgia applies visa-free regime - European states, NATO and CIS member-states, as well as the countries which are the important partners - will have a right to stay in the country for a total of 90 days within a period of six months without an entry visa, according to the corrections.