Parliament official highlights strong performance in visa-free travel system to EU

Levan Makhashvili, the Chair of the Georgian Parliament’s Committee on European Integration, on Tuesday said Georgia was one of the best-performing countries in ensuring the proper functioning of the EU visa-free travel and was standing as a reliable guarantor of the Union’s eastern border.

In his remarks at a plenary session of the Parliament, Makhashvili noted that it was the Georgian Government that had secured the visa-free travel and continued to maintain it for the Georgian people.

“Two days ago, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs submitted information to the EU for the eighth report on what Georgia is doing to ensure the proper functioning of visa-free travel. The steps taken by Georgia - the legislative framework, practice, decisions adopted by Parliament and the Government, cooperation with EU agencies, international data, statistics, assessments, indexes, and so on - all point to only one thing: that, by any objective assessment, Georgia is among the best compared to all other visa-free countries when it comes to the effective functioning of the visa-free system and the safety of EU citizens”, he said.

The official further added that Georgia not only posed no threat, nor created or contributed to any problems, but on the contrary, stood firm, strengthened the EU’s eastern border, and faithfully fulfilled its obligations.

“If anyone today wants visa-free travel to be preserved, first and foremost, it is the Georgian government. While representatives of the opposition were running from capital to capital, it was the government that achieved this benefit and has maintained it for the people to this day. If anyone wants the loss of visa-free travel, first and foremost, it is the street opposition, which sees visa-free movement as a tool for political warfare and dividing society”, he noted.

“I hope Brussels will not make another mistake and will not take a step that would bring nothing but self-damage to the EU. We believe in a relationship based on respect and mutual benefit, built on shared interests, not on blackmail or coercive measures”, Makhashvili concluded.