Both the south Caucasus country and Ukraine have met the criteria for the EU visa waiver, but Berlin earlier this month led last-minute opposition to the process.

Germany and a handful of other EU countries want the European Parliament to support a beefed up suspension mechanism that makes it easier to suspend visa waivers before granting the privilege to more countries, EU diplomats say.

"We would like this process to be concluded quickly. It is with the European Parliament now, " Merkel told a joint news conference with Georgian Prime Minister Georgy Kvirikashvili.

"I expect that we can agree swiftly on the issue of visa liberalisation for citizens of Georgia," she said.

EU diplomats say that, in addition to waiting for the parliament to approve the emergency brake, European governments want to pressure Ukraine and Russia to implement the Minsk peace deal for eastern Ukraine.

Visa liberalisation is a bargaining chip to press the government in Kiev to move. However, Ukraine has appealed to the EU not to grant Georgia visa-free access first, for fear of weakening the standing in Kiev of the pro-western President Petro Poroshenko, EU diplomats say.

Merkel made a connection between the Georgia and Ukraine bids for visa-free travel to the EU, without going so far as to say that they must proceed at the same pace.

"For me, it is significant that association agreements between the EU and Georgia and also with Ukraine were signed at the same time," she said.

"It is not very easy to explain to one country how things are with another," she added. "However, I understand that each country wants to be treated on its own merits."

For Ukraine and Georgia, visa-free access to the EU is part of a geo-political tussle with Russia over ex-Soviet states with Western aspirations. </s> BRUSSELS: European Union member states on Monday approved visa-free travel for Georgia, after agreeing safeguards to prevent any upsurge in arrivals from the former Soviet satellite.

Georgia, along with much larger Ukraine, has been urging the EU to grant visa-free travel so as to show its citizens that close ties with Europe can deliver concrete benefits.

EU Migration Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos said the decision marked “a historic day for Georgia and its citizens.”

“Today’s adoption recognises the tremendous efforts undertaken by the Georgian authorities and the Georgian people to carry out far-reaching and difficult reforms,” Avramopoulos said, according to a statement of his remarks in Tblisi, the Georgian capital.

“These reforms also bring Georgia closer to EU standards, facilitating cooperation with the European Union and bringing the country a step forward on its European path,” he added.

Under the accord, which now requires formal signature by the 28 member states and the European Parliament, Georgian citizens will be able to travel visa-free for 90 days in the EU during any 180-day period.

The accord does not apply to the United Kingdom or Ireland.

The original plan caused some concern that Georgians might abuse the system to come and stay illegally in a European Union still grappling with the aftermath of the 2015 migrant crisis.

In December, member states decided to allow visa requirements to be reintroduced at short notice if there was an upsurge in arrivals. </s> BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union will let Ukrainians and Georgians visit the bloc freely after diplomats and lawmakers agreed on Thursday on an emergency brake to suspend visa waivers, ending an EU dispute holding this up.

People hold up Georgian (L) and Ukrainian flags during celebrations for the signing of an association agreement with the European Union in Tbilisi, Georgia, June 27, 2014. REUTERS/David Mdzinarishvili/File Photo

Wary of immigration after an uncontrolled influx of more than a million refugees and migrants from the Middle East and Africa last year, EU has made relaxing travel rules for any new countries conditional on first agreeing the snap-back mechanism.

But internal EU talks on it stalled for many weeks, delaying agreement on visa waivers for the two former Soviet republics and raising criticism that the bloc was reneging on pledges to help them as they try to move away from Moscow’s orbit.

The agreement paved the way for visa waivers for first Georgia and then Ukraine. Both are still at least a few weeks away but should not be derailed now.

“Almost there. Visa suspension mechanism dispute over. Now the final stretch towards visa free travel for Ukraine and Georgia,” said European Council President Donald Tusk.

The prospect of easier travel to Europe has been used by the pro-Western governments in Kiev and Tbilisi to win popular backing for painful EU-sponsored reforms.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko hailed “encouraging news from Brussels” and Georgian Foreign Minister Mikheil Janelidze said: “Georgia is Europe and it will become more and more tangible for our people.”

Georgia, with only 3.7 million citizens, is an easier case for the EU but has been held hostage by the greater hesitation over Ukraine, which has 45 million people, is geographically closer and is stuck in a conflict with Russia.

Under Thursday’s deal, the European Commission or a majority of EU states will be able to swiftly suspend any country’s visa exemption for nine months if its citizens suddenly start making many more asylum requests, stay in the bloc for longer than allowed or cause a “substantial increase in the risk to public policy or internal security.”

If the problem persists, the bloc would be able to extend the suspension for another 18 months in a more complex procedure that would also give the European Parliament a say.

Related talks on a visa waiver for Turkey, a mostly Muslim country of 79 million people, have stalled now as ties between the bloc and Ankara soured in the aftermath of a botched military coup in the latter in July. </s> TBILISI (Sputnik) — Earlier in the day, 553 European Parliament's lawmakers supported the decision to introduce a visa-free regime for Georgian nationals traveling to the 28-nation bloc, while 66 opposed the decision.

"I congratulate granting visa free travel to Georgian citizens, Abkhaz, and Ossetian compatriots, who will benefit from this decision," Margvelashvili said, as quoted by the presidential administration's press service.

Georgia has been striving for visa liberalization with the 28-nation bloc for years. In March 2016, the European Commission issued a proposal to waive visas for the Georgians. The process was delayed by negotiations between the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union on the visa suspension mechanism. However the sides reached an accord on the issue in December 2016.

In 2008, Georgia launched a military operation against the breakaway republics of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. Following the beginning of the operation, Russia and Georgia were engaged in a five-day war, which has resulted in recognition of the two former Georgian regions by Moscow. At the same time, Tbilisi does not recognize their independence and considers them as part of Georgia. </s> Wary of immigration after an uncontrolled influx of more than a million refugees and migrants from the Middle East and Africa last year, EU has made relaxing travel rules for any new countries conditional on first agreeing the snap-back mechanism.

But internal EU talks on it stalled for many weeks, delaying agreement on visa waivers for the two former Soviet republics and raising criticism that the bloc was reneging on pledges to help them as they try to move away from Moscow's orbit.

The agreement paved the way for visa waivers for first Georgia and then Ukraine. Both are still at least a few weeks away but should not be derailed now.

"Almost there. Visa suspension mechanism dispute over. Now the final stretch towards visa free travel for Ukraine and Georgia," said European Council President Donald Tusk.

The prospect of easier travel to Europe has been used by the pro-Western governments in Kiev and Tbilisi to win popular backing for painful EU-sponsored reforms.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko hailed "encouraging news from Brussels" and Georgian Foreign Minister Mikheil Janelidze said: "Georgia is Europe and it will become more and more tangible for our people."

Georgia, with only 3.7 million citizens, is an easier case for the EU but has been held hostage by the greater hesitation over Ukraine, which has 45 million people, is geographically closer and is stuck in a conflict with Russia.

Under Thursday's deal, the European Commission or a majority of EU states will be able to swiftly suspend any country's visa exemption for nine months if its citizens suddenly start making many more asylum requests, stay in the bloc for longer than allowed or cause a "substantial increase in the risk to public policy or internal security."

If the problem persists, the bloc would be able to extend the suspension for another 18 months in a more complex procedure that would also give the European Parliament a say.

Related talks on a visa waiver for Turkey, a mostly Muslim country of 79 million people, have stalled now as ties between the bloc and Ankara soured in the aftermath of a botched military coup in the latter in July. </s> BRUSSELS — The European Parliament has voted overwhelmingly to approve visa liberalization for Georgia, paving the way for Georgians to travel to the European Union’s Schengen zone without obtaining visas.

European lawmakers backed visa liberalization, long anticipated in Georgia, by a vote of 553 to 66, with 28 abstentions.

Georgians will still have to wait for the European Parliament and the European Council to vote on a mechanism allowing for the suspension of visa-free regimes with countries, including Georgia and Ukraine, under certain circumstances once they are in place.

The suspension mechanism was given preliminary approval in December. EU diplomats have told RFE/RL that the final European Parliament vote is expected at the next plenary session, on February 13-16, and that EU member states are poised to agree on it on February 27 or 28.

Georgians are likely to be able to travel visa-free to the Schengen zone starting in late March or early April, diplomats say.

Copyright (c) 2017. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave NW, Ste 400, Washington DC 20036. </s> “These reforms also bring Georgia closer to EU standards, facilitating cooperation with the European Union and bringing the country a step forward on its European path,” he added.

Under the accord, which now requires formal signature by the 28 member states and the European Parliament, Georgian citizens will be able to travel visa-free for 90 days in the EU during any 180-day period. The accord does not apply to the United Kingdom or Ireland. The original plan caused some concern that Georgians might abuse the system to come and stay illegally in a European Union still grappling with the aftermath of the 2015 migrant crisis. In December, member states decided to allow visa requirements to be reintroduced at short notice if there was an upsurge in arrivals. </s> BRUSSELS -- European Union officials and lawmakers signed documents formalizing a visa-liberalization deal with Georgia on March 1.

Diplomats familiar with the issue told RFE/RL that the documents will be published in the official EU journal on March 8 and will enter into force 20 days later, enabling Georgians to travel visa-free to the EU as of March 28.

That moment has been eagerly awaited in Georgia, a former Soviet republic that has long sought closer ties with Europe and has faced persistent efforts by Russia to increase Moscow's influence following a brief war in 2008.

Officials and diplomats are signed a document on a visa-suspension mechanism that has been drafted as a condition for the implementation of visa-liberalization agreements for non-EU countries.

The suspension mechanism allows for visa-free regimes to be halted under certain circumstances once they are in place.

On February 28, the EU decided to move ahead with visa liberalization for Ukraine, another country whose efforts to tighten ties with the West have led to Russian aggression. EU ambassadors are set to endorse that deal on March 2, but more steps are needed before it can go into effect.

The visa-liberalization deal will apply to all EU countries except Britain and Ireland, and also to non-EU Schengen Area countries Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Switzerland. </s> The European Parliament voted in a landslide Thursday to back visa-free travel for Georgian citizens to 30 European countries.

Voting 553-66, with 28 abstentions, lawmakers granted Georgia's long-sought privilege to travel to the European Union's Schengen zone without obtaining visas.

The visa-free regime was met with excitement and national festivities in the small Eastern European country that's striving for European Union membership while Russian troops occupy two breakaway regions.

“Today is a day of historical significance for Georgia,” Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili said in a statement issued before the plenary vote.

The country's long-awaited visa liberalization enables biometric passport holders to enter the Schengen area for 90 days within any 180-day period.

“Abkhaz and Ossetian compatriots ... will benefit from this decision,” he said, referring to the two Russian-occupied breakaway regions where the majority of citizens are forced to obtain Russian passports. In order to benefit from a visa-free regime, residents of the breakaway regions will need to obtain biometric passports of Georgia, which are inaccessible in occupied territories.

EU support for Georgia's visa liberalization is viewed as a significant geopolitical achievement among officials and civil society activists who have been strong voices for European integration.

Pro-European pundit Ivane Chkhikvadze, head of Euro-integration program at Open Society Foundation — also known as Soros Foundation — called Thursday's vote a “credibility test” for European support, as Georgia “has successfully met all the requirements of EU's 2011 Warsaw Summit Declaration,” in which representatives of the European Union renewed “their commitment to the objectives and continued implementation of the Eastern Partnership.”

The Eastern Partnership is part of a broader EU initiative to shape relations and integration with post-Soviet states and eastern neighbors.

“Georgia must apply to EU membership and must do it now,” Chkhikvadze told VOA's Georgian Service, adding that it will take a strong political will on part of government officials to complete the application. “It will take years of hard work, and the sooner we beginning the journey, the sooner we become the EU member.”

Davit Bakradze, Georgia's current ambassador to the United States, called the vote an important step in approximating EU standards, which is key to another of long-term national aspiration: NATO membership.

“Georgia has a long road ahead” in terms of finalizing integration-focused reforms, he told VOA's Georgian Service.

Eka Gigauri, executive director of Transparency International Georgia, assumed that Thursday's vote may compel Moscow to demonstrate that the former Soviet republic remains within its sphere of influence.

“Georgia has reached one of the most important milestones of its foreign policy,” she told VOA's Georgian Service. “Euro integration will no longer be regarded as Georgia's one-way effort, and politicians in Europe should not be surprised when Georgia makes a call for membership.”

Russia has openly expressed concern over Georgia's EU and NATO aspirations, describing the country as part of its backyard.

Georgia, which has been seeking European integration since becoming the 41st Member State of the Council of Europe in April 1999, has drafted EU-style legislation to abolish the death penalty, comply with European conventions and battle corruption and organized crime.

The latest public opinion poll by Caucasus Research and Resources Center showed that 56 percent of Georgians identify as European.

The visa liberalization, once fully ratified, will allow Georgians to travel freely through all EU member and non-member countries, along with Schengen candidate countries.

EU member nations include Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, The Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Slovakia, Spain and Sweden.

Non-member countries are Iceland, Lichtenstein, Norway and Switzerland. Schengen candidates are Bulgaria, Cyprus, Croatia and Romania.

This report was produced in collaboration with VOA's Georgian Service.
The European Union grants visa-free travel for Georgia and Ukraine.