Prepared by Messenger Staff
EU Suspends Visa-Free Travel for Georgian Diplomatic Passport Holders
European Union member states have voted to suspend visa-free travel for holders of Georgian diplomatic passports, according to RFE/RL Europe editor Rikard Jozwiak. Writing on X on February 11, Jozwiak said that all EU countries backed the decision except Hungary and Slovakia, and that the suspension is expected to take effect in early March.
The move follows the introduction of a new EU-wide legal mechanism that allows such decisions to be applied uniformly across all member states. Previously, suspensions had to be implemented individually by each country. Under this mechanism, the visa-free regime could, in the future, also be extended beyond diplomatic passports to the wider Georgian population.
The suspension applies to diplomatic passports as documents, not to specific individuals. Georgian officials also hold ordinary passports, which will continue to allow visa-free travel to the EU.
The decision comes amid sharply deteriorating relations between Tbilisi and Brussels. The EU has criticized the Georgian Dream government for what it describes as anti-democratic and authoritarian policies. In July, the European Commission warned Georgia to meet eight reform conditions by August, including repealing laws targeting civil society and minority groups and aligning Georgia's policies with EU visa standards. According to reports, the Georgian government's response did not address key concerns.
Georgian Dream officials have rejected the criticism and accused Brussels of using the visa-free regime as a "blackmail tool."
Georgian Citizen Sentenced to Life in Occupied Donetsk
A court in the Russia-occupied Ukrainian region of Donetsk has sentenced Georgian citizen Giorgi Chubitidze to life imprisonment, accusing him of serving as a "mercenary" for Ukraine.
In a statement on February 11, the self-proclaimed Donetsk prosecutor's office said Chubitidze arrived in Kyiv in 2014 and killed five servicemen in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, including a Russian serviceman in September 2023. The statement also claimed he received more than 3.5 million rubles for his service.
Russian forces captured Chubitidze and another Georgian citizen in the fall of 2023. Georgia's Foreign Ministry has said it would use "all international mechanisms at its disposal" to protect their rights.
Chubitidze's name appeared in Georgian media in 2020, when Mtavari TV reported that he was allegedly involved in a 2007 operation in the Upper Kodori Gorge in Abkhazia, during which two Russian officers were killed. Following that operation, he was reportedly placed on Russia's wanted list.
