European Commission Report: Georgia has failed to implement nearly all recommendations issued regarding visa-free travel; on the contrary, it backtracked further
Georgia has failed to implement nearly all recommendations issued regarding visa-free travel; on the contrary, it backtracked further. This is noted in the European Commission’s enlargement report.
According to the document, Georgian authorities failed to implement necessary corrective actions and instead enacted further restrictive legislative acts contradicting Georgia’s commitments on fundamental freedoms.
“The 8th Visa Suspension Mechanism report of December 2025 noted that Georgia failed to implement nearly all recommendations issued in the seventh VSM report. Despite repeated requests, it backtracked further, in particular on key governance and rule-of-law benchmarks that form the basis for granting visa-free travel.
Citizens of Georgia have enjoyed visa-free travel to the Schengen area since March 2017. A readmission agreement between the European Union and Georgia has been in place since 2011. As part of the visa liberalisation monitoring mechanism, the Commission has been regularly assessing the progress made by the country in implementing reforms introduced under the visa roadmap. In its 7 th and 8 th reports under the visa suspension mechanism, published in December 2024 and December 2025, the Commission urged Georgia to take urgent action to address its recommendations, particularly related to fundamental rights, anti-discrimination and anti-corruption. Following a formal inquiry in July 2025, the European Commission determined that the Georgian authorities failed to implement necessary corrective actions and instead enacted further restrictive legislative acts contradicting Georgia’s commitments on fundamental freedoms. In light of Georgia’s continued breach of the benchmarks underpinning the visa-free regime granted by the EU, the Commission activated the revised Visa Suspension Mechanism for an initial period of 12 months, as of 6 March 2026. The first phase of this enforcement targets holders of diplomatic, service, and official passports, effectively ending their visa-free travel across all EU Member States.
An enhanced dialogue with Georgia took place in June 2026, with a view to remedying the circumstances that led to the suspension. This enhanced dialogue did not lead to progress with regard to the Commission’s concerns underpinning the suspension,” the report states.
