The EU Foreign Affairs Council voted at a meeting on January 27 to suspend the EU-Georgia visa facilitation agreement for Georgian diplomats and officials, meaning those wanting to travel to the EU may now have to apply for a visa.

According to the European Council statement, the suspension is partially “a response to a violet repression by the Georgian authorities against peaceful protesters, politicians, and independent media, which started after the government announced on November 28 [that they would] no longer pursue the opening of negotiations with the EU until 2028”.

“Fundamental rights and democratic values are core principles of EU integration. Officials that represent a country which tramples down these values should not benefit from easier access to the EU,” said Polish Interior Minister Tomasz Siemoniak.

Georgia’s governing party – Georgian Dream (GD) – is widely accused of rigging the October 2024 parliamentary elections, forming an illegitimate parliament, and undermining Georgian aspirations for Euro-Atlantic integration in favour of closer ties with Russia.

Protesters across the Black Sea country have been protesting for over two months against GD’s move to suspend Georgia’s EU accession bid. They demand a rerun of the elections and the release of the hundreds who have been detained and imprisoned during police crackdowns on nightly street protests.

The decision to suspend the visa-free regime required only a qualified majority and will enter force in the coming days, despite votes against from Hungary and Slovakia.

According to the statement, those affected by the suspension include members of Georgia’s national and regional governments and parliaments, Constitutional and Supreme Courts, members of Georgia’s official delegations who participate in meetings and other events held in EU countries, and diplomatic passport holders.

The Council stated that “once the partial suspension enters into force ... member states can decide to adopt national measures to apply the visa requirement for holders of diplomatic, service/official passports and special passports”.

Hungary’s Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó was quick to declare that his country would not be suspending visa free travel for Georgian diplomats. “The Hungarian government believes that Georgia’s future should be decided there, and the Georgians have clearly decided, whether Brussels likes it or not,” Szijjártó said.

Hungarian PM Victor Orbán is one of GD’s most loyal supporters and was the first international leader to recognise the party’s victory following the contested October vote.

At a meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels in December 2024, both Hungary and Slovakia blocked proposed sanctions against GD.

When travelling to those EU member states that do introduce visa requirements, Georgian diplomats and officials will no longer benefit from shorter application times, lower visa fees and the possibility to submit fewer supporting documents.

Georgian citizens with regular passports will continue to enjoy the right to visa-free entry to the EU for short-term trips.

As well as a response to GD’s hostility in the wake of its EU U-turn, the Council’s statement also noted that the suspension comes in reaction to the controversial “foreign agent” law and the Law on the Protection of Family Values and Minors, commonly known as the LGBT ‘propaganda’ law, which were adopted by the GD government in 2024.

“The EU considers the above legislations to undermine the fundamental rights of the Georgian people, including the freedom of association and expression, the right to privacy, the right to participate in public affairs, and increase stigmatization and discrimination,” the statement continued.

Domestic and international reactions

The former Georgian president and vocal GD critic, Salome Zourabichvili, described the European Council’s decision as “somewhat off beat”, highlighting that, since the passing of the foreign agent law in spring 2024, Georgia has “since experienced worse: stolen elections, suspension of the European path, mass protests, violent repression”.

“Forget old laws, call new elections,” Zourabichvili wrote on X, echoing the number one demand of Georgian pro-EU, anti-government protesters, who took to the street of Tbilisi for the 63^rd consecutive night on January 28.

In comments to the media the day after the suspension was passed, the EU ambassador to Georgia, Pavel Herchinsky, said that the bloc’s goal was not to punish the Georgian people, but to “punish those responsible for repression, intimidation and ongoing violence”.

Meanwhile France’s Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot commented: “the Georgian people have consistently and relentlessly expressed their European aspirations for democracy and freedom. These aspirations must be heard.”

GD officials also responded to the new restrictions imposed on them by the EU.

"I don't see anything special about it. This is just a symbolic and technical issue. The main thing for us is that there is no threat to security in the country … We can travel to the EU with a visa," Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze said.

“If the European Union tells diplomats and holders of diplomatic passports that they allegedly pose a threat to public order within EU member states, this claim would be entirely baseless and contrary to the goal of demonstrating the EU’s commitment to fostering closer ties with Georgia,” Georgian Foreign Minister Maka Bochorishvili stated, adding that relations with the EU were “of utmost importance”.