Foreign ministers of 12 countries support Georgia’s fast visa liberalisation with the EU
By Messenger Staff
Monday, April 25
The foreign ministers of countries of Northern Europe, the Baltic States and the Visegrad Group, comprising the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia, met in the Baltic Sea resort town of Jurmala, Latvia, on Friday, and stated they supported Georgia gaining visa-free travel in the Schengen zone of the European Union (EU).
"The ministers pointed to the need of immediately granting the right of visa-free travel to [the citizens of Georgia and Ukraine]," the Latvian Foreign Ministry said after the two-day meeting.
The foreign ministers also confirmed their readiness to support the implementation of the EU association agreements with Georgia, Ukraine and Moldova and develop cooperation with other countries, the ministers said in a statement released after the meeting.
The foreign ministers of 12 countries, including Denmark, Iceland, Norway, Finland, Sweden, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland and Hungary, attended the conference, which was dedicated to the security issues, energy cooperation, questions related to the Eastern partnership and other European problems.
Earlier this week, the European Commission announced that Ukraine meets all the criteria for visa liberalization.
Georgia has already gained positive visa liberalisation assessments from the European Commission; the Council of Europe and European Parliament must now make a final decisiom over the issue.
Georgian authorities have stated they are very hopeful for the final result, and eagerly await for visa-liberalisation from this summer.
