“The European Union has officially canceled the visa-free regime for representatives of the ‘Kotsi regime,’” - this was stated by Grigol Gegelia, Secretary for Foreign Affairs of “Lelo - Strong Georgia.”

In his assessment, this is “yet another failure of the ‘Kotsi’ regime.”

“Visa-free travel has been revoked for all persons using diplomatic, service, and official passports. In parallel, the European Union has imposed yet another restriction on the ‘Kotsis’: they will no longer be able to travel on ordinary passports for official visits, as Kobakhidze and other representatives of the regime were threatening. We know that a ‘Kotsi’ delegation was planning a visit to the European Parliament in the near future. As it appears, now the Kotsis will have to wait in line for a visa to carry out this visit. Because of their own actions, the regime that once led a candidate state now cannot even manage to arrive for an official visit visa-free. This is yet another failure of the ‘Kotsi’ regime,” - stated Gegelia.

For information: Today the European Commission is suspending visa-free travel for holders of Georgian diplomatic, service, and official passports, - this information is published on the official website of the European Union.

“Now they are required to obtain a visa to enter the Schengen area for official purposes. This is the first case in which the new reinforced visa suspension mechanism is being applied,” - the information states.

The press release emphasizes that the visa suspension mechanism has been activated in response to Georgia's deliberate and persistent violations of commitments undertaken under the visa-free regime in key areas of democracy and fundamental rights.