Georgian FM says says visa-free mechanism being weaponized for political purposes

Any decision to suspend Georgia’s visa-free teavel would represent a “major strategic mistake” by the European Union and the European External Action Service, the Georgian Foreign Minister Maka Botchorishvili said on Wednesday in an interview with the Georgian Public Broadcaster.

Botchorishvili noted that the possibility of halting visa liberalisation was being deliberately manipulated inside Georgia and had become a tool of political blackmail.

“For an entire year we have witnessed this. Visa liberalization has become part of a mechanism of pressure - a tool for creating a radical political agenda in Georgia. It has no other purpose”, the FM said.

She expressed hope that Georgian citizens would not be punished for political reasons. However, she noted that in the current environment - marked by a lack of dialogue with the EU and growing speculation - any decision is possible.

Botchorishvili also sharply criticised recent decisions made within the EU bureaucracy.

“It is very difficult today to rely on the rationality of decisions under the current bureaucratic conditions, when we see numerous irrational decisions coming from the European External Action Service. It is not only us who say this - many others do as well. There is widespread commentary that the EEAS is not functioning effectively and is not sufficiently focused on protecting Europe’s own interests”, she noted.

The Minister further emphasised steps taken by the Georgian Government towards visa liberalisation, saying the Government had done everything to ensure that Georgian citizens had a visa-free travel, while those forces that were eagerly talking about the abolition of the visa-free travel were acting in a coordinated manner.

“Many steps have been taken over the years, many things have been done, be it readmission agreements, strengthening police cooperation, police attaches, introducing border control when we started implementing control together with the EU side. Georgia has taken many steps to meet the requirements for visa-free travel and ensure that our citizens do not have any obstacles when traveling to EU member states”, she added.

“I would say this: if a decision is made to suspend the visa-free travel, it will be a huge strategic mistake on the part of the European Union, on the part of the European External Action Service”, she concluded.