10:19, 6 October 2018

Georgia and Ukraine simplify border crossing

The Georgian and Ukranian Prime Ministers, Mamuka Bakhtadze and Vladimir Groisman. October 5, 2018. Photo from the website of the Ukrainian administration https://www.kmu.gov.ua/ua

The agreement on the abolition of visa requirements was signed by Georgia and Ukraine, allowing citizens of the countries to cross the borders by their internal passports in the format of ID-cards.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that the electronic ID-cards introduced in Georgia in 2011 represent a plastic card with an electronic signature certificate. It is obtained when changing the passport data, and after the expiration of old identity cards, authorities do not oblige the population to urgently change documents.

A number of Orthodox believers in Georgia demanded that ID-cards be voluntary, as well as to be able to have alternative identification cards. The reason for the protest was the fact that, according to their beliefs, the bar-code of electronic certificates had the number of 666 – "the antichrist's sign". In December 2014, the Georgian Parliament's Committee on Human Rights and Civil Integration supported this demand.

"This is a big step to make relations of the two countries still more intense," the "News-Georgia" quotes the Georgian Prime Minister, Mamuka Bakhtadze, as saying.

"Citizens of Georgia and Ukraine may stay, based on their internal passports in the form of ID-cards, in the territory of each other without visas for 90 days annually," the press service of the Government of Ukraine has stated.

Let us remind you that starting from March 28, 2017, a visa-free regime to visit the Schengen countries is in force for citizens of Georgia.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on October 5, 2018 at 11:53 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.