TBILISI, July 16. /TASS/. The European Commission has sent a letter to Georgian Foreign Minister Maka Bochorishvili demanding that Tbilisi comply with several recommendations or risk a suspension of its visa-free travel regime with the EU, Imedi TV channel, which obtained the letter, reported.

"I hope that the Georgian government will respond constructively and take the necessary measures to fully implement the commission's recommendations. The Commission will assess the implementation of the recommendations in the context of the next report on the visa suspension mechanism. Based on this assessment, in case of repeated non-compliance with [the recommendations], the commission may take appropriate measures based on article 8 on the revision of visa rules, in particular by activating the visa suspension mechanism," Beate Gminder, head of the Directorate-General for Migration and Home Affairs, said in a letter.

Besides the letter, dated July 14, eight recommendations are given, including a demand to cancel the law "On Transparency of Foreign Influence" - the law on foreign agents adopted last year, and laws banning LGBT propaganda (the movement is recognized as extremist and banned in Russia). The Georgian authorities should amend the national strategy to "ensure that the rights of LGBT people are fully protected."

Earlier, European diplomacy chief Kaja Kallas said that diplomats planned to discuss lifting the visa-free regime with Tbilisi amid the arrest of opposition leaders in Georgia and suppression of protests at a July 15 meeting of EU foreign ministers.