They have one last blackmail left, they are following it, although I personally have less expectation that positions will be reconciled between the countries. I think they will act rationally, - this is how Georgian Dream MP Levan Machavariani assesses the European Commission's statement, according to which Georgia may lose its visa-free travel status with Europe.

According to the MP, "European bureaucrats cannot be convinced that suspending the visa will lead to a revolution in Georgia, and if they cannot be convinced of this, of course, they will not take this step accordingly."

"There was nothing unexpected for us in this report, we were talking about all this in advance. This is the transfer of the rhetoric into the document that we hear from European bureaucrats. In the technical part, we follow absolutely everything meticulously, and the political topics that come up - the repeal of two laws, the anti-LGBT law and the laws on transparency, the release of people they call political prisoners, when we know that they entered the penitentiary institution on their own, I am talking about the leaders of radical opposition parties, etc. Accordingly, of course, there is nothing new here, blackmail continues as usual, which we are used to. This was, by the way, the motive of Mr. Irakli Kobakhidze's briefing in November 2024, when we exposed one of the mechanisms of such blackmail, which was the opening or not opening of negotiations. Now, they have one last blackmail left, they are following it, although I personally have less expectation that positions will be reconciled between the countries. I think they will act rationally, despite the fact that recently the actions of European bureaucrats in particular do not follow any logic, not only in relation to Georgia, but also in relation to other countries in general. However, of course, they will not be convinced that a revolution will happen in Georgia by suspending visas, and therefore, if they are not convinced of this, of course, they will not take this step,” said Levan Machavariani.

For information, the European Commission has published the eighth report under visa suspension mechanism, which says that ultimately, Georgia may completely lose its visa-free status. The European Commission concludes that Georgia has significantly regressed on key governance and rule of law requirements, which form the basis for granting visa-free travel. Under the new rules, the suspension of visa-free travel could initially affect holders of diplomatic, service and official passports issued by the Georgian government, who are primarily responsible for failing to comply with the European Commission’s recommendations. In a second stage, the suspension could be extended to the entire population if the problems are not resolved by the Georgian government. Ultimately, Georgia could lose its visa-free status entirely and be moved to Annex I of the Visa Regulation (list of third countries requiring visas).