On March 1, Chris Agius and Antonio Tajani, on behalf of the Council of the European Union and the European Parliament, respectively, signed a regulation on visa liberalization for Georgians, allowing its citizens to travel to the EU for a period of stay of 90 days in any 180-day period.

The text will now be published in the EU Official Journal and will enter into force 20 days later, once the suspension mechanism, which allows the EU member states to temporary reintroduce visa requirements for reasons of public security, is also in place.

Georgian delegation led by the Prime Minister of Georgia Giorgi Kvirikashvili attended the signing ceremony in Brussels.

“Georgia has been and will always be a reliable partner of the European Union,” PM Kvirikashvili stated in his twitter post.

“Today concludes a very laborious, lengthy process that, which led Georgia to the visa liberalization and which underlined Georgia’s close ties with the EU,” Georgia’s Foreign Minister Mikheil Janelidze stated after the signing ceremony.

“Georgia will become a European state. This day will definitely come,” he added.

According to the new regulation, Georgian citizens with a biometric passport travelling to the Schengen area for up to 90 days for business, tourist or family purposes will no longer need a visa.