Lithuanian foreign minister: Georgia capable of achieving visa-free travels to EU this year

After meeting with Georgia’s ministers in charge of foreign affairs, defence and European integration in Georgia, Linkevičius said he had been once again assured that the country “reasonably expected more” from the Eastern Partnership summit that took place in Riga in May, as their progress in the talks on the liberalization of the EU visa regime was “not smaller” than that of Moldova, which was granted the visa-free travels.

“Of course, there is a certain degree of disappointment in this field. Everything else is going by the plan and schedule, maybe at a somewhat slower pace than everyone would expect, but there are objective reasons: we see the enormous pressure upon participants of the Eastern Partnership program,” said the minister.

During the Eastern Partnership summit in the Latvian capital last month, the European Commission‘s (EC) President Jean-Claude Juncker said that Georgia and Ukraine had been each presented with a list of reforms they had to take in order to have the visa requirements lifted. EC will make the progress report by December 15.