Georgia, as before, does not want to “keep up” with the anti-Russian sanctions policy and has no intention of abandoning the visa-free regime for Russian tourists or revising it in any way. This was stated by the head of the ruling party “Georgian Dream – Democratic Georgia” Irakli Kobakhidze. He stated that there was “no need at all” for such a review, despite all the statutes of limitations. However, the European attempt to block visas for Russians is still “hanging in the air”.
“Georgia has a visa-free regime with Russia, which was introduced by the former government in early 2012. Today there are no risks and there is no need for us to revise the visa-free regime,” Kobakhidze said. He also reassured the local media, saying that “there is no uncontrolled entry of Russians into Georgia” and that the authorities of the republic are responsible for security.
We will remind you that in the EU, after an unscheduled meeting of foreign ministers held at the end of August, the cancellation of the agreement on the simplification of the visa regime between Russia and the European Union was announced. Yes, it will complicate and make it more expensive for Russian tourists to enter EU countries, but the country could not expect a complete ban on issuing short-term visas for tourist trips.