EU to suspend visas for Georgian officials over the security crackdown on opposition protestors The European Union on Monday moved to impose visa restrictions on Georgian diplomats and government officials over the police crackdown on opposition protesters demanding a rerun of October’s contested election.
After chairing what she described as a “very tense discussion” among the bloc’s foreign ministers, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said they had decided “to suspend the visa free regime for diplomatic passports and service passports.”.
Kallas also tabled a list of Georgian officials for the ministers to weigh sanctions against them, but Hungary and Slovakia — considered the most Russia-friendly of the 27 EU countries — blocked the move.
Former soccer player Mikheil Kavelashvili became Georgia’s president on Saturday as the governing Georgian Dream party tightened its grip on power in the election that the opposition alleges was rigged with Moscow’s help.
Tens of thousands of people have filled the streets regularly in recent weeks since the governing party decided to suspend negotiations on joining the EU.
