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Posted on January 27, 2025
1 min readLast updated: January 27, 2026
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EU ministers suspend visa-free travel for Georgian diplomats due to protests, targeting politicians but sparing citizens.
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European Union foreign ministers on Monday approved the suspension of visa-free travel for Georgian officials holding diplomatic passports, two diplomats told Reuters.
The move comes in response to a violent crackdown in Georgia on pro-EU protests.
Ministers had asked the European Commission, the bloc's executive arm, to make a proposal on the issue when they met in December. The measure aims to affect leading Georgian politicians without imposing a punishment on ordinary citizens.
Georgia's ruling Georgian Dream party declared victory in an election in October that the opposition says was tainted by fraud.
A government announcement in November that it was suspending EU accession talks until 2028 led to protests and a crackdown.
Speaking ahead of the ministers’ meeting on Monday, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said the bloc had redirected funds to Georgian civil society.
"It is in the hands of Georgian people to really get this right," she said.
(Reporting by Lili Bayer and Andrew Gray, Editing by Angus MacSwan)
The EU suspended visa-free travel for Georgian officials in response to a violent crackdown on pro-EU protests in Georgia.
The protests were triggered by a government announcement that it was suspending EU accession talks until 2028, which many viewed as a setback for Georgia's European aspirations.
Kaja Kallas stated that it is in the hands of the Georgian people to get the situation right and mentioned that the EU had redirected funds to support Georgian civil society.
The ruling Georgian Dream party declared victory in the October election, which the opposition claims was marred by fraud.
EU foreign ministers discussed the suspension of visa-free travel when they met in December prior to the approval on Monday.
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