Georgian Parliament official: visa-free travel with EU used as political tool by some states

Levan Makhashvili, the Chair of the Georgian Parliament’s Committee on European Integration, on Tuesday accused certain states of exploiting the issue of Georgia’s visa-free travel with the European Union to advance their own agendas.

In his interview with Imedi TV, Makhashvili noted that a majority of EU states currently oppose harsh measures against Georgia, citing several reasons.

“As for the positions of states, as of today, there is no such majority. On the contrary, most states do not wish to make such harsh decisions for several reasons. Some see that it is undesirable to use this issue in political games, as this would, in effect, open a Pandora’s box for the first time, and similar problems could spill over to other countries in the future. Many countries do not want to open this issue precisely for this reason. Several states openly say that Georgia is doing as much as it can to maintain visa-free travel and therefore does not deserve a harsh attitude from the European Union”, Makhashvili said.

He further highlighted that some states were leveraging the visa issue as part of broader strategic manoeuvres, a trend he expected to continue as long as the war in Ukraine persists.

“There are other states that are trying to use this issue, amongst others, for their own agendas, as visa-free travel is not the only area where we have seen these countries use EU institutions, including the European Parliament, to achieve their strategic goals. Unfortunately, the expectation is that this will not end today. As long as the war in Ukraine continues, we expect that this pressure will persist through the use of various issues”, he noted.

Makhashvili emphasised Georgia’s commitment to transparency and dialogue.

“Once again, the only weapon Georgia has left is to convey the truth and explain it to our partners. By presenting specific statistics, data, and legislative regulations to show what Georgia has done, we can reaffirm that Georgia remains committed to visa-free travel”, he concluded.