March 28 - historic day for Georgia
By Gvantsa Gabekhadze
Friday, March 3
The regulation on the introduction of visa-free travel for citizens of Georgia was officially signed in Brussels late on March 1. The document dictates that Georgians will be able to travel visa-free in the EU’s Schengen area from March 28, Georgia’s Foreign Minister Mikheil Janelidze stated.
The signing ceremony was attended by Georgian PM Giorgi Kvirikashvili, Foreign Minister Janelidze and the State Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration, Viktor Dolidze.
The final change to the introduction of visa-free travel for citizens of Georgia was made to the regulation on February 27. The revised regulation will be published in the EU's Official Journal in a few days, after which within 20 days citizens of Georgia will be able to travel visa-free to Schengen member states.
“Today, the EU door has been opened for citizens of Georgia,” Kvirikashvili said after the signing ceremony in the European Parliament.
"I want to congratulate all the citizens on this important decision, which, first and foremost, is an expression of political support from the European Union towards Georgia. Today the EU door has been opened up for the citizens of Georgia. This is not the first step towards European integration, it is already an important achievement in terms of integration with the EU," the PM said.
The Prime Minister thanked his colleagues for their support in the reform process, all the friends of Georgia in the European Parliament, the EU Council, European Commission, and above all, the citizens of Georgia.
Deputy Parliament Speaker Tamar Chugoshvili highlighted the importance of the event and hoped citizens of Georgia would act in the frame of the law and not create problems for the Georgia-EU visa waiver.
Meanwhile, the opposition advised the Government to address the current economic problems in order to avoid an outflow of Georgian citizens.
Georgians with biometric passports will be able to travel to the Schengen states for a period of 90 days within any 180-day time period for any purpose other than working or studying after March 28.
