After the Justice and Home Affairs Council of 10 June failed to make a decision on the visa-free regime to Georgian citizens, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia requested to further discuss this matter at the Foreign Affairs Council. On 9 June, at the initiative of Lithuania, Foreign and Interior Ministers of Romania, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Bulgaria sent a joint letter to the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands and the Dutch Minister for Migration, requesting to grant visa-free travel to Georgian citizens as soon as possible.
During the discussion at the Foreign Affairs Council, the Foreign Ministers discussed the political importance of visa liberalisation for Georgian citizens and the potential negative effect of further delaying the decision. Linkevičius stressed that delaying to make the decision on visa liberalisation to Georgians had its price – firstly, changed dynamics in domestic politics ahead of the Georgian parliamentary election in October; secondly, when the EU’s actions were at odds with its words, the EU was losing credibility; thirdly, as the EU motivated its Eastern partners to implement, the EU based its policy in the region on the more-for-more principle, so a delay in fulfilling obligations reduced the EU’s role as a catalyst for reform.
At the Foreign Affairs Council, Linkevičius also had a conversation with Germany’s Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs Frank-Walter Steinmeier and stressed that media interpretation should not raise doubts about Germany’s contribution to ensuring security in the Baltic region. “Germany will firmly carry out all the commitments undertaken in the run-up to the NATO Summit in Warsaw,” said Germany’s Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs.
According to Linkevičius, it is important to stick to the principles for cooperation with Russia that were agreed in March, including the implementation of the Minsk agreements, strengthening relations with Eastern partners, increasing the EU’s resistance (in the fields of energy security, the fight against hybrid threats, strategic communications, etc.), supporting civil society in Russia and selective cooperation with Russia. “Progress must be visible when applying all the five principles. Such efforts should not be limited to strengthening cooperation with Russia and expanding areas of cooperation,” said Lithuania’s Foreign Minister.
