EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on 20 October that the EU may decide to suspend visa-free travel with Georgia for “certain groups”.
“EU foreign ministers have made it very clear that the rule of law and human rights situation in Georgia continues to deteriorate,” she said after the conclusion of an EU Council meeting in Luxembourg.
Callas added that “personal attacks on EU ambassadors are unacceptable and have no place in diplomacy.”
“The Commission will report later this year, somewhat later, on the mechanism for ending visa-free travel. This-along with new visa rules coming into force in November-will give us the opportunity to end visa-free travel for certain groups,” she said.
On 7 October, the European Parliament backed a legislative initiative that would see visa-free travel between the EU and third countries terminated by a decision of the European Commission, particularly for human rights violations.
The Social Democrats faction in the European Parliament called to deprive from 1,000 to 2,000 Georgian officials and their family members of the right to visa-free entry to the European Union. This was stated by the faction’s foreign policy coordinator Nacho Sanchez Amor on 13 October.
On 13 October, in an interview with Radio Liberty, Georgia’s fifth president Salome Zurabishvili said that the European Union is actively working on introducing restrictions that will allow stopping the visa-free regime selectively. According to her, the measures would not target society as a whole – which remains pro-European – but those responsible for deviating from the European course and creating tension in relations with the EU.