Lithuania suspends visa-free travel for Georgian diplomats and officials

Georgian citizens holding diplomatic and service passports and entering Lithuania through the external border of the European Union (EU) will need a visa.

This is reported by Delfi.

On Wednesday, May 21, the Lithuanian government approved a resolution implementing the EU Council decision adopted in January to end the visa-free regime for Georgian diplomats and officials. These individuals and their family members will no longer be able to travel to the EU without visas for short-term stays and will no longer be entitled to use the simpler and cheaper application procedure for long-term visas.

In the meantime, ordinary Georgian citizens will still be able to travel to the EU without visas.

The Lithuanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs must inform the European Commission (EC) and other members of the Community of the changes within 5 working days.

It is recalled that in early December last year, the country's Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze, who represents the ruling Georgian Dream party, said that Tbilisi would not hold EU membership negotiations until the end of 2028. After this decision, a wave of protests broke out in Georgia. Due to human rights violations during the suppression of protests in Tbilisi, Lithuania and the Baltic countries introduced restrictive measures against more than a hundred Georgian politicians and banned them from entering the country.

As the Ukrainian News agency earlier reported, in the meantime, Georgia has reduced the visa-free regime for Ukrainians - Ukrainian citizens will be able to stay in Georgia without a visa for one year.