Georgia has celebrated the fifth anniversary of the visa liberalization agreement with the European Union.
Georgian biometric passport holders can now travel to the 26 Schengen states, such as France, Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and many more countries for short-term visits, business trips, and family and friends.
The Georgian Prime Minister, Irakli Garibashvili, shared the information about celebrating the event on his official Twitter account.
The Prime Minister noted on his Twitter account, “Today marks the fifth anniversary of the visa-free rule with the EU – a historic achievement and another step on Georgia’s European integration path. Our Government spares no effort to effectively implement the irreversible European choice of the Georgian people, ultimately leading to the country’s EU membership”.
Although, while attending the meeting with the EU commission, PM Garibashvili applauded the agreement; and called it great attainment resulting in efforts of the Georgian Government for visa-free travel to the EU member countries.
Shalva Papuashvili, Chairman of Parliament of Georgia, also highlighted the advantages of the Georgian passport, which will facilitate visa-free travel to 72 countries of the world, and with a visa on arrival to another 47 world countries.
On his official Twitter account, the Chairman posted, “Today, we mark the 5th anniversary of visa-free regime with EU/Schengen Zone – a vital tangible benefit for Georgia’s citizens resulting from the ever-increasing EU-Georgia partnership. Georgia’s passport has a string value, being on 30th place in global ranking with no visa/visa on arrival in 119 states.”
As per the analysis revealed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia, 645,639 Georgian citizens made a total of 1,398,803 trips to the Schengen Area in the past five years.
Due to a high number of Georgian citizens reaching the EU borders without proper documentation, like valid bio-metric passports, health insurance, proof of accommodation, and means of subsistence, in the first over three years, in January 2021, the Georgian authorities started carrying out additional checks at all border points for Georgian citizens traveling to the Schengen Area Member States.
