On December 19, the European Commission published its annual report under the visa suspension mechanism, following Brussels’ approval a month earlier of revised rules designed to simplify the suspension of visa-free travel for citizens of third countries and introduce a more targeted approach to ending visa exemptions. The Commission stated that the updated mechanism would enter into force on December 30, 2025, and emphasized that "Georgia has regressed significantly on key governance and rule-of-law benchmarks that formed the basis for the granting of visa-free travel," adding that similar regression had occurred in the areas of visa alignment and the fight against corruption.

Given what it described as the "systemic and deliberate nature of this backsliding," the Commission stated that it would consider appropriate measures under the revised Visa Suspension Mechanism, explaining that, in the first phase, a suspension could apply to holders of diplomatic, service, and official passports issued by the Georgian authorities, who were identified as primarily responsible for failing to act on the Commission’s recommendations.

The report further stated that, in a second stage, the suspension could be extended to the entire population if the identified issues were not addressed, warning that "ultimately, Georgia could lose its visa free status entirely," while emphasizing that Georgia had violated multiple commitments made during the visa liberalisation dialogue, failed to implement nearly all recommendations of the seventh Visa Suspension Mechanism report, and continued to backtrack in 2024–2025 on visa policy alignment, anti-corruption efforts, and the protection of fundamental rights and freedoms.