At a meeting of the European Union Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels, foreign ministers from 27 countries discussed developments in Georgia and agreed on the "need to suspend the visa-free regime for holders of diplomatic passports."
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The EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Kaja Kallas, stated at a press conference following the meeting that the situation in Georgia is not moving in a positive direction for the Georgian people.
“Democratic countries do not suppress opposition voices and do not restrict media freedom. In response, we have reduced political contacts and suspended funding for the government of Georgia.
Today, we agreed on the need to suspend the visa-free regime for holders of diplomatic passports, and the Commission will present a proposal this year.
We also discussed the issue of imposing sanctions against those Georgian officials who are behind the violence against peaceful demonstrators
In the future, we will continue to support the Georgian people, including by redirecting funding intended for the government to civil society and the Georgian people, to independent media, because the future of Georgia is up to the Georgian people,” Kallas said.
According to her, in addition to the discussion with the European Commission regarding the suspension of the visa-free regime for diplomatic and service passports, “there was a great desire to do more” during the meeting.
“Many said, let’s see how things will develop and we are ready to take additional steps, but, as you know, we need the agreement of all 27 members for sanctions and unfortunately, we are still here. But I think that suspending the visa-free regime is a first step and a symbolic one,” Kaja Kallas noted.
Following the Foreign Affairs Council meeting, Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó stated that, together with his Slovak counterpart, he vetoed the inclusion of some senior Georgian police officers on the sanctions list. He described reports of police violence at protest rallies in Tbilisi as one-sided and claimed there were aggressive elements among the rally participants, with some police officers sustaining injuries.
