Day: April 2, 2026
Starting April 3, Switzerland will require holders of Georgian diplomatic, official, and service passports to obtain a visa for entry, a measure tied to the EU’s suspension and set to last one year.
The Federal Council of Switzerland approved the move on April 1, saying the EU suspension “constitutes a further development of the Schengen acquis,” which Switzerland, a non-EU member but part of the Schengen Area, is “obliged to adopt.”
The EU suspension of visa-free travel for Georgian diplomatic passport holders took effect on March 6 under a new legal framework ensuring swift and uniform application across all member states, following Brussels’ warning of “appropriate measures” citing Georgia’s “backsliding” on key commitments in December.
Georgians with regular passports are not affected and will continue to enjoy visa-free travel to the EU and Switzerland. The EU could extend the suspension for another two years or expand it to all Georgian citizens if conditions worsen.
“Overall, Azerbaijan has made and will continue to make a significant contribution to the development of the Organization of Turkic States. This is one of the priority areas of our foreign policy,” said President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev as he received the participants of the meeting of the Heads of Government/Vice President of the member states of the Organization of Turkic States.
