Luxemburg FM: Georgian People Should Know Visa Free Rules Better
By Gvantsa Gabekhadze
Thursday, March 29
(TBILISI)--The Foreign Minister of Luxemburg Jean Asselborn, who arrived to Georgia on Wednesday, told the media after his meeting with his Georgian counterpart that the Georgian government should take steps for better information campaign about the Georgia-EU visa free deal signed in March, 2017.
"Many people come to Europe without visas. A lot of people arrived in Luxemburg without visas and then requested asylum. I think the Georgian authorities should explain to their people that they should not act so. Otherwise, the EU will have to react not only with regard to Georgia, but in relation to other countries as well,” Asselborn stated.
He and the Georgian Foreign Minister Mikheil Janelidze stated that it will be practically impossible for Georgian citizens to get asylum in Luxemburg, as the country enlisted Georgia as a safe country, which means no one is prosecuted in Georgia and there are no grounds for asking for asylums.
Georgia has very firm support from Luxembourg for its European and Euro-Atlantic aspirations, Georgian Foreign Minister Janelidze said at a joint press conference with his counterpart.
He stated that the Georgian government is taking steps to prevent Georgians illegal stay in the EU’s passport- free Schengen Zone.
In his previous statement Janelidze appealed to the Georgian citizens to act in line with the law to preserve the “very valuable achievement” of the visa free travel to the EU-member states.
Speaking about other issues of the meeting Janelidze stated that special attention was paid to Archil Tatunashvili's case, of the Georgian young man who was allegedly killed in country’s occupied Tskhinvali region on February 23 and was transported to the Tbilisi-administered territory only after 26 days from his death.
"We discussed the human rights situation in the occupied territories. Special attention was paid to Tatunashvili’s murder, which was the result of the Russian occupation and annexation policies. It is necessary that those responsible are held accountable. Such facts once again prove the necessity for on-site security and international human rights mechanisms,” Janelidze said.
Asselborn is to leave Georgia today.
