On 17 June 2025, the Cabinet of Ministers adopted a decision to suspend the bilateral agreement between Latvia and Georgia on the exemption of holders of diplomatic and service passports from the visa requirement, thereby reinstating the visa requirement for Georgian officials – holders of diplomatic and service passports – to enter Latvia.
The Cabinet decision derives from the Council Decision (EU) 2025/170 of 27 January 2025 on the partial suspension of the application of the Agreement between the European Union and Georgia on the facilitation of the issuance of visas. The EU and its Member States took the decision to reinstate the visa requirement for the holders of Georgian diplomatic and service passports following the actions by Georgia’s ruling power of cracking down on the democratically-minded part of the Georgian society, especially the civil society, as well as the political opposition, in violation of the principles of human rights and democracy.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs underlines that this requirement applies only to holders of diplomatic and service passports issued by Georgia, while holders of Georgian citizen’s passports may continue to enter Latvia visa-free.
So far, Belgium, Bulgaria, Estonia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Romania, Spain, Slovakia, and Sweden have also completed their national procedures for the resumption of the Schengen visa requirement for the entry of holders of diplomatic and service passports issued by Georgia.