EU Parliament passed a controversial bill that calls for revisions to Georgia's visa-free status

April 27, 2024
Freepik
  • EU Parliament has called for the revision of the visa-free travel regime for Georgia.

  • Such a call comes following the reintroduction of a controversial “foreign agents” bill.

  • Gerogia’s Vice PM said that the visa-free travel suspension is improbable.

A motion was approved by the European Union Parliament suggesting that the Commission review Georgia's visa-free travel policy.

A controversial "foreign agents" measure was passed by the Georgian parliament, which prompted the Parliament to make this request.

The bill, which has only passed its first reading and still needs to pass two more readings in order to become law, would require all domestic organisations that receive foreign funding to bear the label of "foreign agents."

The same bill would also give the Gerogian relevant authorities the right to monitor internal discussions within these organisations.

Such a bill has sparked concerns among the EU authorities for its similarity with a similar law in Russia.

For this reason, the Parliament has required that the authorities start investigating the matter and consider taking measures against Georgia.

Bill Is Incompatible With EU Values & Democratic Principles, EU Parliament Stressed

Highlighting that the bill is incompatible with the EU values and democratic principles and betrays the aspirations of Georgians to live in a democratic country, the EU Parliament said in its resolution that the EU accession negotiations should not be opened with Georgia as long as this law is part of the country’s legal order.