Last month, the Commission launched the procedure under the new visa suspension mechanism to suspend the exemption from the visa requirement for nationals of Georgia holding diplomatic service and official passports. And now member states have given their positive opinion earlier this week in the comitology procedure, European Commission Spokesperson Markus Lammert told Euroscope when asked whether he could confirm that EU member states supported the suspension of visa liberalisation for holders of Georgian diplomatic and service passports and what further measures would be taken.

“This means that the Commission can now and will now be able to adopt the implementing regulationas to the next steps. Stay tuned. You will be informed as soon as this happens.

Asked whether the opposition from Slovakia and Hungary could affect the process, Markus Lammert said: “This is indeed an important aspect of the new rules, which also distinguishes it from what we had last year.”

“Once adopted, the new rules will ensure uniform application of the suspension in all member states. It means that when it's imposed at EU level, bilateral visa exemptions for holders of diplomatic service and official passports are no longer possible,” the European Commission Spokesperson said.