The Presidential Palace, the parliament’s building, the government’s residency, and Tbilisi City House are lit with the colors of the European Union at night: Georgia is celebrating the sudden decision by the European Commission to publish the report on the fulfillment of their “homework” by Tbilisi and Kiev within the plan of actions on the visa-free regime. The report says that Georgia (as well as Ukraine) meets the criteria which are necessary for cancellation of visas. However, this is not a final decision: the EU Council at the level of heads of state and government must make a decision on changing the EU regulations; then the European parliament must adopt a corresponding resolution. After that, technical procedures will begin – the introduction of new data to the common information system, sending necessary circular letters to responsible departments…
The procedures may take 6-12 months. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili has already stated that citizens of Georgia, including residents of Abkhazia and South Ossetia who have Georgian biometric passports, can travel to the EU states without visas from summer 2016.
At the same time, second and third officials of the Georgian government quietly and prosily (not to disturb the solemn celebrations) explain that, first of all, this concerns only 22 of 28 members of the EU. Even though Ireland, the UK, and some other countries are members of the EU, they are not participants in the Schengen agreement, and it would be impossible to visit these countries without visas; secondly, a visa-free regime doesn’t mean permission to work in the EU; a Georgian citizen can stay in the Schengen zone for only 90 days in a 180-day period. If any small violation of the rule takes place, a citizen may be detained, deported and put on a blacklist forever.
Moreover, citizens who have never been to the EU and have never been issued Schengen visas are at risk of appearing in a difficult situation right on the border. French, German, Greek or Italian border guards may demand documents which used to be obligatory for getting a visa to themin embassies: well-paid employment confirmation, a bank account certificate with a monthly income of no less than 300-400 euros; a deposit in a bank, and so on, particularly a return ticket, a hotel booking, and at least 500 euros in cash or on a credit card.
If a citizen cannot confirm that the goal of his or her trip is a short-term tourist visit, rather than employment in the EU, he or she may not enter the country and may be sent back to Georgia. However, in case of not issuing a visa in the Georgian capital, a person loses 36 euros; but rejection by a border guard means a loss of the whole sum of a ticket and spending several days in the neutral zone of an airport waiting for a return flight.
Nevertheless, the majority of people will have an opportunity to visit the EU, and the number of rejections at the border will be obviously smaller than the number at consulates. Georgians who dream about a job in the EU are ready to take the risk. Some of them will have good luck.
The most interesting thing is that Brussels is aware of the level of illegal migration from Georgia. Hundreds and thousands of Georgians have managed to find jobs in Greece, Italy, other countries, despite tough requirements for issuing visas. The Italian town of Bari is called “little Tbilisi”, while there are so many Georgians in Greece that during the Greek financial crisis the government of Irakli Garibashvili was seriously concerned about the financial and economic stability of the Caucasus countries as a result of the reduction of monthly transfers from Athens.
The EU is also aware of Georgian criminal syndicates which commit robberies and thefts. A day after the publication of the European Commission’s report, the Greek police informed that another major gang of robbers from Georgia was detected. 15 members of the gang were arrested, another 14 are wanted now. But this is only one of dozens of such gangs which have been detected in European countries during recent years.
The most powerful criminal bosses, who expect new recruits from Georgia, prefer living in France and Spain.
Moreover, the EU criticized the Georgian government for trials of opposition leaders, attempts to confiscate the independent TV company Rustavi-2, and so on.
The set of problems was enough to delay the final decision on liberalization of the visa regime for several years. However, the EU authorities have a different view. Independent experts have no doubt that the main reason for the miracle goodwill is geopolitics. “Six countries participated in the European Eastern Partnership Program. Only three of them signed the association agreement with the EU. A rejection of providing Ukraine and Georgia with a visa-free regime would mean the collapse of the process of integration of a part of the post-Soviet space into the Western sphere of influence,” the former president of the Tbilisi Diplomatic Academy, Joseph Tsintsadze, told Vestnik Kavkaza.
