EU lawmakers approved visa-free access for Georgian citizens, a prize Tbilisi has long sought.
The European Parliament on February 2 voted to approve visa liberalization for Georgia, paving the way for Georgians to travel to the European Union's Schengen zone without obtaining visas.
European lawmakers backed visa liberalization, long anticipated in Georgia, by a vote of 553 to 66, with 28 abstentions.
According to the European Parliament News, the legislation still needs to be formally approved by the Council and will only enter into force once the suspension mechanism, which allows the temporary reintroduction of visas in the event of migration surges or risks to public security, is in place.
Georgians will still have to wait for the European Parliament and the European Council to vote on a mechanism allowing for the suspension of visa-free regimes with countries, including Georgia and Ukraine, under certain circumstances once they are in place.
The suspension mechanism was given preliminary approval in December. EU diplomats have told RFE/RL that the final European Parliament vote is expected at the next plenary session, on February 13-16, and that EU member states are poised to agree on it on February 27 or 28.
Georgians are likely to be able to travel visa-free to the Schengen zone starting in late March or early April, diplomats say.
The Schengen Area countries are Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, and Sweden.
Georgia has long sought greater integration with Europe but has been frustrated with the pace of EU moves to bring it closer.
The EU-Georgia Visa Liberalization Dialogue was launched on June 4, 2012 and the Visa Liberalization Action Plan was presented to the Georgian authorities on February 25, 2013. These benchmarks were set with a view to adopting a legislative, policy and institutional framework (phase 1) and ensuring its effective and sustainable implementation (phase 2).
In its first progress report adopted in November 2013 the Commission made a number of recommendations for completing the first legislative and planning phase. In October 2014, the Commission adopted its second progress report which concluded that Georgia had fulfilled the first-phase benchmarks of the VLAP and was ready to be assessed on the second-phase benchmarks. In its conclusions of 17 November 2014, the Council concurred with the Commission's assessment. The Commission adopted the third progress report on Georgia's implementation of the VLAP on May 8, 2015. The report took note of significant progress made by the Georgian authorities in implementing the second phase of the VLAP and acknowledged the fulfillment of many benchmarks under the four blocks. Today's report is the fourth and last progress report.
