Georgian speaker: Brussels portrays visas as curse

Georgia’s parliamentary speaker, Shalva Papuašvili, has played down speculation about a possible suspension of the European Union’s visa-free regime for Georgian citizens, calling such claims “not serious”.

Speaking to Georgian media, Papuašvili said the main issue discussed in Brussels concerned visas for holders of diplomatic passports, not ordinary citizens, Caliber.Az reports.

He said the EU had long ago decided to suspend visa-free travel for diplomatic passport holders and that the measure was already in effect, meaning such officials now apply for visas.

Papuašvili argued that the issue was being exaggerated, stressing that there was “nothing wrong” with obtaining a visa.

“The problem is that Brussels presents a visa as a kind of curse,” he said. “As if needing a visa is something terrible. By that logic, are we also ‘cursed’ by the United Kingdom, Ireland or the United States? If a visa is required, we apply for one.”

He added that people with legitimate reasons to travel had never faced serious difficulties in securing visas.

According to Papuašvili, portraying visa-free travel as a gift and visas as a punishment reflected the European Union’s attitude towards itself rather than a real problem for Georgia.

By Aghakazim Guliyev