Kobakhidze: if it were not for visa-free regime with EU, Georgia would have positive migration
In a post posted on Facebook on 20 February, the leader of the ruling Georgian Dream party, Irakli Kobakhidze, drew attention to the increased rate of emigration of the country’s citizens, saying that “if it were not for the visa-free travel regime with the European Union, it can be said with certainty that in 2018-21 Georgia would not have a negative, but a positive migration balance”.
According to Kobakhidze, “when an economically strong country facilitates the visa regime for the population of an economically weaker country, this fact naturally contributes to the outflow of the population”. He goes on to say that after the introduction of the visa-free travel regime with the European Union, the difference between those who left and those who entered the country between 2018 and 2021 amounted to 29,000 people.
As a counterweight, he cited the strict US visa policy towards Georgian citizens, pointing out that in 2021, for example, the US granted only granted US visas to 37% of the applicants. “The strict visa policy essentially hinders the migration of Georgians from Georgia to the US, which has its own positive effect,” he said, adding that “naturally, the balance of migration would worsen were US to ease the visa regime”.
“Georgia’s demographic situation and trends require serious attention,” said the chairman of Georgian Dream, noting that “those who are really interested in improving the country’s demographic trends should not be engaged in speculation, but in presenting appropriate business proposals”.
It is noteworthy that on 18 February, at the panel discussion organized by the 59th Munich Security Conference, the Prime Minister of Georgia, Irakli Garibashvili, cited visa-free travel as one of the main achievements of the “Georgian Dream” government on the road to integration with the European Union.
Also Read:
- 28/03/2017 – Georgia Celebrates Visa Free Travel to EU
This post is also available in: ქართული (Georgian) Русский (Russian)
