Georgian Foreign Ministry urges citizens to comply with EU visa-free travel conditions
TBILISI. Feb 2 (Interfax) - The Georgian Foreign Ministry has reminded the country's citizens of negative consequences of a failure to comply with the conditions of visa-free travel with the European Union.
"Given that the renewed mechanism of visa-free travel suspension implies the possibility of an immediate reaction in case of a significant rise in migrant flows and related risks and threats, it is important for every Georgian citizen to be aware of the negative consequences which may result from violation of the visa-free travel terms," the ministry said in a statement released on Thursday.
Hopefully, Georgians will approach their obligations responsibly and comply with the relevant requirements and laws of the hosting countries, the ministry said.
For his part, Georgian State Minister on European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Victor Dolidze told a press conference on Thursday that the visa liberalization decision, approved by the European Parliament (EP), will presumably take effect in late March-early April.
"This is a very significant step forward but we have to understand that it does not mean that this process will begin tomorrow or even today... Some technical procedures, though few, have yet to be completed. According to our arithmetical calculations, somewhere around late march-early April out citizens will be able to travel visa-free to EU and Schengen countries," the state minister said.
The state minister's staff will start a massive information campaign this month to explain all conditions of visa-free travel to citizens, he said.
It was reported earlier on Thursday that the EP at its plenary session voted to grant visa-free travel to Georgia for short-term trips to the Schengen Area states.
The EP noted at the session that any violation of the EU terms will trigger a mechanism suspending visa-free travel with Georgia.