European Parliament’s LIBE Committee to Vote on Georgia EU Visa Waiver Sept.5

European Parliament’s Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) will vote on a proposal on EU visa waiver for Georgia and Kosovo on September 5.

If approved by the LIBE committee, which is responsible for the issue, the proposal will then be voted in the European Parliament plenary.

Proposal for lifting visa requirements in the Schengen area for Georgian citizens holding biometric passports also requires approval from the council of EU home affairs and justice ministers, which failed to agree on the issue in June after last-minute objection from Germany, dashing Tbilisi’s hopes to finalize the process in summer.

At the same meeting on September 5 in Brussels, LIBE committee will discuss proposal on EU visa waiver for Ukraine, according to the committee’s draft agenda.

In early July European Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee adopted opinions calling for granting visa-free travel rules to the Schengen area to the citizens of Georgia, Ukraine and Kosovo.

Slovakia’s Foreign Minister, Miroslav Lajčák, whose country holds six-month long rotating EU presidency, said on July 12 that the Slovak EU presidency has “an ambition to complete” Georgia’s EU visa liberalisation process before the October 8 parliamentary elections in Georgia.

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