Foreign Minister Maka Bochorishvili on the suspension of visa-free travel for holders of diplomatic passports: "If the European Union tells diplomats, holders of diplomatic passports, that they allegedly pose a threat to public order in the European Union member states, this will be devoid of any basis and will not serve the purpose of showing the EU's readiness to improve relations with Georgia," she said in response to a journalist's question about the suspension of visa-free travel for diplomatic passport holders.

As Bochorishvili noted, this will be a very unfortunate decision that will significantly hinder Georgia's relations with the European Union and will be aimed at worsening these relations, not improving them.

According to the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the suspension of visa-free travel for holders of diplomatic passports is a technical decision.

"This is a technical decision. We will observe how each country implements this decision of the European Union Council. Our relations with the European Union are very important to us in the broader picture," said Maka Bochorishvili.

The European Union Council has decided to suspend parts of the EU-Georgia visa facilitation agreement, as noted in the Council's press release.

According to the Council, the suspension of the visa facilitation agreement will affect the following categories:

Members of official Georgian delegations participating in official meetings and other events held on the territory of any EU member state by intergovernmental organizations; members of the Georgian national and regional governments, parliaments, the Constitutional Court of Georgia, and the Supreme Court, and holders of diplomatic passports.

"Georgian citizens who hold ordinary passports will still benefit from visa-free travel to the European Union for short stays," the press release states.

The Council clarifies that, once the partial suspension of the EU-Georgia visa facilitation agreement takes effect, and because Georgian citizens are exempt from visa requirements, member states may decide to take national measures to apply visa requirements to holders of diplomatic, service/official passports, and special passports.