Georgians start travelling to most EU countries visa-free

PanARMENIAN.Net - Georgian nationals with biometric passports will be able to travel to most European Union member states without visas beginning Tuesday, March 28, RFE/RL reports.

The day has been eagerly anticipated by Tbilisi, which has long sought closer ties with the EU while facing persistent efforts by Russia to increase Moscow's influence following a brief war with Georgia in 2008.

The European Commission recommended in December 2015 that visa restrictions for Georgians be lifted but negotiations among EU member states initially proved difficult.

The talks between the European Parliament and the European Council on a visa-suspension mechanism that took place in parallel with the visa liberalization talks also slowed the process.

That mechanism, which also enters into force on March 28, allows for visa-free regimes for Georgians to be halted under certain circumstances once they are in place.

The visa-liberalization deal for Georgia will apply to all EU countries except Britain and Ireland. It will also not be honored in the Schengen Area countries that are not EU members: Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Switzerland.

Georgian Foreign Minister Mikheil Janelidze told reporters in Tbilisi late on Monday that residents of Abkhazia and South Ossetia will be eligible to travel to the EU without visas.

Janelidze said that "the privileges linked to visa-free travel will be accessible to our citizens residing in the occupied territories."

Tbilisi considers its territories of Abkhazia and South Ossetia to be occupied by Russia, which recognized them as independent nations after a brief war against Tbilisi in 2008 and maintains thousands of troops in both regions.

The overwhelming majority of world countries consider Abkhazia and South Ossetia parts of Georgia.