Visa policy for Russian citizens in Georgia
Ten thousand people in Georgia signed a petition to introduce visas for citizens of Russia and Belarus in just a few hours, but the authorities say this would be irrational.
The petition, circulated on the night of August 3, says that a visa policy should be established for citizens of Russia and Belarus, according to which the latter would not be permitted to stay in Georgia for more than three months of the year, thus “allowing citizens Russia and Belarus to travel to Georgia only for tourism purposes.”
Irakli Kobakhidze, chairman of the ruling party, maintains that a change to the existing policy would be irrational.
Kobakhidze notes that the current visa policy for Russians was enacted under the previous government.
The Georgian Dream chairman also weighed in on a study published by International Transparency-Georgia, according to which Georgia’s economic dependence on Russia is growing.
In his view, any statement by the head of the organization, Eka Gigauri, “should be separated from everyone else’s, because she made calls for war.”
Lelo begins the trend
Initially, the Lelo opposition party came up with the demand of visas for citizens of Russia and Belarus.
The latter’s party statement says that Lelo has made this demand from the first day of the war in Ukraine. However, the issue is especially acute today, “after the number of visitors from the Russian Federation has increased dramatically.”
The party demands the introduction of temporary measures “so that the flow of people entering Georgia can be controlled.” They thus called for the following:
• introduce visas for citizens of the Russian Federation and Belarus (citizens of countries fighting in Ukraine);
• determine the validity of tourist visas up to 30 days (visas issued directly at the border and / or online);
• for those who wish to stay longer than 30 days, visas shold be issued in accordance with procedures drawn up in accordance with the best practices of the European Union
The number of Russian citizens who crossed the Georgian border in June increased by 340% – a total of more than 135,000 Russian citizens entering Georgia in that month.
Visa policy for Russian citizens in Georgia
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