“The Commission communicated in detail the reasons for its decision, which are focused on democracy and fundamental rights. The Georgian side also laid out their points of view. The discussions took place in a fact-based atmosphere,” said Markus Lammert, Spokesperson of the European Commission in response to a reporter’s question.

According to Markus Lammert, both sides agreed to report back to the authorities and to discuss potential next steps.

“A meeting took place yesterday between the European Commission and a delegation of Georgian officials. This is part of the standard process set out in the visa regulation, which takes place when the visa suspension mechanism is activated.

This meeting and this process follow the decision taken in March this year to suspend visa-free travel for Georgian holders of diplomatic service and official passports for an initial period of 12 months.

We took this decision after the member states had given their approval for this. So the aim of this process that we are in now is to remedy the circumstances that have led to the suspension, and this is Georgia’s violation of the commitments taken under its visa-free regime in key areas of democracy and fundamental rights.

Yesterday’s meeting was a technical-level meeting focused on the issues that triggered the activation of the visa suspension mechanism. The Commission communicated in detail the reasons for its decision, which are focused on democracy and fundamental rights. The Georgian side also laid out their points of view.

The discussions took place in a fact-based atmosphere. Both sides agreed to now report back to the authorities and to discuss there the substance and potential next steps,” he said.

On 11 June, European Commission representatives met with the Georgian delegation for an in-depth dialogue on visa regulation. Following the meeting, the Georgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) released a statement saying that during the meeting with the EC delegation, the Georgian side reconfirmed readiness to continue constructive cooperation with the EU based on mutual respect.