Georgian, German FMs Meet in Berlin
Georgia’s Foreign Minister, Mikheil Janelidze, met his German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier in Berlin on February 24.
“We have discussed broad range of issues. We spoke about positive trend that is observed in deepening of economic relations,” Janelidze said after the meeting. “We have discussed Georgia’s European future and reforms that are being carried out by Georgia… The German Foreign Minister has stressed his country’s firm supports towards Georgia on its path of European integration.”
“We have also discussed visa liberalisation issue [with the EU], which is a very important part of the agenda in the EU-Georgia relations. It was noted that there will be Germany’s full support for granting Georgia visa-free travel [in the Schengen area],” the Georgian Foreign Minister said.
European Commissioner for Neighbourhood Policy Johannes Hahn said on February 9, that the European Commission will put forward a legislative proposal on visa waiver for Georgia “in the coming weeks.” Georgia’s State Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration, Davit Bakradze, said on February 24, that Tbilisi expects this formal proposal to be made in “the beginning of March.”
After the formal proposal is made, it will be then up to the EU-member states and the European Parliament to approve it before short-term visa-free travel to the Schengen area becomes available for those Georgian citizens, who hold biometric passports.
The Georgian Foreign Ministry said that “the situation in the occupied Abkhazian and Tskhinvali regions” was also discussed during the meeting between the Georgian and German foreign ministers.
