Georgia should be granted visa-liberalization immediately
By Tea Mariamidze
Friday, July 29
“The Georgian government has fulfilled all the necessary requirements and there is no reason to suspend granting a visa-free regime,” said the Hungarian Foreign Minister, Peter Szijjarto, who visited Georgia to attend the Ambassadorial 2016 as a guest of honor on July 27.
After meeting his Georgian counterpart Mikheil Janelidze, Peter Szijjarto stated that Hungary remains committed to supporting Georgia’s European and Euro-Atlantic integration.
“Georgia should be provided with a visa-free regime with the EU immediately,” stated Szijjarto, and criticized European Union for not being ready to tackle challenges.
The Hungarian FM said that his country supports both the EU and NATO expansion, but not everyone shares this opinion in Brussels.
“Hungary's position is that now is the appropriate time to approach the issue more creatively and attract more members, as the more we are, the stronger we are. Our position is that we need to enlarge and as soon as possible,” said Szijjarto.
The Minister also said that his country wants Georgia to be included in NATO as soon as possible.
“We wanted to provide Georgia with a Membership Action Plan in Warsaw; unfortunately we did not succeed, but both the EU and NATO integration process must be accelerated,” he added.
Moreover, Szijjarto said Hungary has always been committed to the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Georgia.
The Hungarian Minister stressed his country had nine officials in the EU Monitoring Mission in Georgia and Hungary intended to send observers to monitor the October 8 Parliamentary Elections upon Georgia’s request.
Mikheil Janelidze noted that Peter Szijjarto’s visit and participation in the Ambassadorial underlines once again the friendly and dynamic relations between the two countries.
According to the press-center of Georgia’s Foreign Ministry, Mikheil Janelidze and Peter Szijjarto focused on the further enhancement of trade and economic relations and on the implementation of joint infrastructural projects and expressed their readiness to make the maximum use of the investment opportunities.
“The sides underlined the need to conclude the negotiations on the Agreement on Promotion and Protection of Investments and highlighted the prospects for the further development of co-operation in different directions, including, the spheres of education and science,” the media center of the Foreign Ministry said.
The Ambassadorial 2016 takes place from July 26 to July 29 and it coveres every important topic that the Government and its diplomatic missions abroad need to communicate with each other.
