ISTANBUL

The EU partially suspended on Monday the visa-free travel arrangement for Georgian diplomats and certain officials.

The EU Council announced in a statement that foreign ministers meeting in Brussels decided to suspend specific sections of the EU-Georgia visa facilitation agreement.

The statement noted that this could require Georgian diplomats and officials to apply for visas when traveling to the EU.

The suspension applies to members of official Georgian delegations attending official meetings and other events in EU territories, members of Georgia's national and regional governments, parliaments, the Constitutional Court, and diplomatic passport holders.

However, ordinary Georgian passport holders will continue to benefit from visa exemptions for short-term stays in the EU, the statement added.

The decision was also linked to measures targeting the Georgian government, which recently suspended EU accession negotiations and responded with force to public protests against this move.

Georgia was granted EU candidate status in December 2023. However, the government postponed accession talks until 2028.