Georgia will not have to adhere to any further requests from the European Union before signing a visa-liberalisation agreement, president of the European Parliament Martin Schulz said on Wednesday.
The European Parliament’s 700 members are currently debating whether Georgians should be allowed short-term visa-free travel to the European Union, and the issue will be put to a vote in the coming weeks.
Schulz made his remarks in Brussels in a meeting with David Usupashvili, speaker of the Georgian Parliament.
By saying that Georgia meets the necessary criteria in legal terms, Schulz echoed the comments of Jean-Claude Juncker, president of the European Commission, who gave his support to Georgian visa-waivers a week ago.
"I expressed once more the entire support of the European Parliament for the democratic and the economic sustainable development of the country as a strong association partner of the European Union, and we discussed this in this frame of the ongoing process of visa liberalisation,” said Schulz on Wednesday.
An anonymous diplomat quoted earlier this month in Die Welt, a German newspaper, said liberalisation for countries including Georgia may depend on the success of a deal between the European Commission and Turkey about the transfer of refugees. Schulz and Juncker’s comments suggest this is not the case, and the deal will be agreed soon.
It was also agreed that Schulz would travel to Tblisi in the coming months.
SOURCE: commonspace.eu and agencies
PHOTO: https://twitter.com/EP_President/
