The EU will suspend visa-free travel for some Georgian passport holders
EU-Georgia visa halt
The European Commission has launched a procedure to suspend visa-free travel for Georgian citizens holding diplomatic, service, and official passports under a new mechanism.
This was announced by European Commission spokesperson Markus Lammert at a briefing on January 21. He said the new mechanism will ensure uniform and consistent application of visa suspension for third countries across all EU member states.
According to Lammert, the goal of visa liberalization is to strengthen contacts between countries and support shared values, including human rights and democracy. The European Commission believes that the actions of the Georgian authorities violate these principles, negatively affecting economic, humanitarian, cultural, and scientific ties.
“At this stage, the Commission has sent its assessment to the European Parliament and the Council of Europe. Once a decision is adopted, the suspension of visa-free travel for holders of diplomatic passports will be applied uniformly across all countries,” Lammert said.
The procedure does not yet apply to citizens holding regular biometric passports, including diplomats traveling on ordinary passports. According to Lammert, the suspension mechanism consists of two stages: the first stage concerns only diplomatic passports, and if necessary, the measures may later be extended to the broader public.
The European Commission spokesperson added that the new legal framework for visa suspension is more flexible and faster, and ensures uniform implementation across all EU member states.
“It is important that we are talking about passports, not specific individuals,” Lammert emphasized.
On January 27 last year, the EU had already suspended visa-free travel for holders of Georgian diplomatic passports, although not all EU member states ratified that decision. According to Lammert, the new mechanism addresses this problem and ensures uniform application.
“The measures adopted last year were based on a different legal framework. The advantage of the new legal basis is its greater flexibility and significantly higher speed, which is why we can use it in this case. The focus here is on the passports themselves, not on their holders.
Another new element is that the measures will be applied uniformly and equally across all EU member states. Previously, this was more of a recommendation; now uniform implementation can be ensured,” the European Commission spokesperson said.
On November 17, 2025, the Council of the European Union finally approved a revised mechanism allowing EU countries to more quickly and effectively suspend visa liberalization for third countries if the visa-free regime is misused or contradicts the interests of the European Union.
According to the European Commission’s 2025 report on EU enlargement, the foundations of Georgia’s integration process into the EU have significantly weakened over the past year. The report notes that government decisions have effectively halted the euro-integration process, leaving Georgia as a candidate country only on paper.
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