A leading Georgian politician said she hopes that better relations with the EU will soon make it easier for its people to travel in the region.
MP Tinatin Khidasheli was speaking to reporters in Brussels the day after the EU announced a plan towards visa liberalisation.
On Monday, EU home affairs commissioner Cecilia Malmström presented the visa action plan in Tbilisi, praising Georgia's efforts so far.
She called on the country to make progress in data protection, move towards an independent justice system, take measures against discrimination and fight against corruption and organised crime.
If Georgia fulfils certain conditions, such as combating organised crime, business travellers from the country might be allowed to travel to the EU without visas from as early as November.
In a visit to Brussels, Khidasheli said, "We are very optimistic on this, because there is no single item that is difficult to comply with or would create any problems internally.
"It will be a new phase of the Georgia-EU relationship."
Khidasheli, a human rights lawyer who is chair of the Georgia-EU committee, was visiting for talks with MEPs.
The progress comes as the Caucasus nation seeks to complete a two-decade journey from Soviet republic to European-style democracy.
A parliamentary election in October produced the country's first constitutional transfer of power, but left it with a tricky cohabitation arrangement: the ruling Georgian Dream coalition does not include the United National Movement of Mikheil Saakashvili, who has been president since 2004.
Currently, parliament and president are wrangling over the country's basic system of government. In particular, Saakashvili wants to retain the president's authority to appoint his own government without the approval of parliament.
Khidasheli said that now that his party no longer controls parliament, he might use this to try to influence a presidential election scheduled for the coming October.
"Just imagine that tomorrow, or in July, Saakashvili fires the government and brings in the old guys as ministers to conduct the presidential election in October," she added.
"What will happen to Georgia? He constantly says he not going to use this power. But if you're not going to use it, then why keep this bomb in your pocket?"
The months since the election have already seen friction between president and parliament.
Earlier in February, lawmakers from prime minister Bidzina Ivanishvili's coalition postponed Saakashvili's traditional address to the nation from the parliament chamber due to disagreements over protocol.
In November, former officials including Saakashvili's defence minister were charged with assault.
That prompted US officials to warn that politically motivated prosecutions could jeopardise Georgia's chances of joining Nato.
Khidasheli said that the government above all wanted clarity in these cases, telling journalists, "When those accusations are present, obviously, it's our goal to give the full picture, so that nobody is misled."
Currently, Ivanishvili's government is preparing to give Georgia a more European-style constitution.
A state constitutional commission is scheduled to begin work in March, and then present a draft over summer. Parliamentary approval could follow in the autumn.
"We are moving towards a parliamentary republic," said Khidasheli. This could take various forms, she said – but only under certain conditions.
"The only principles are a balance of power between the executive and the legislature, and independence of the judiciary guaranteed at maximum strength."
Georgia's international relations appear to be improving under Ivanishvili.
The country's relationship with giant neighbour Russia was rocky under the previous government, and Georgian wine and mineral water were banned from Russian shelves in 2006.
Recently, however, Russia said it would dispatch teams of sanitary inspectors to Georgia in anticipation of resuming imports.
The EU is hoping to conclude negotiations with Georgia on a political and trade pact by November, when it holds its eastern partnership summit in Vilnius, Lithuania.
Ahead of that, EU enlargement commissioner Štefan Füle and transport commissioner Siim Kallas visited Georgia earlier in February.
"It's up to us now," said Khidasheli.
"Adopting anti discrimination law in Georgia was one of the requirements of the EU, but this requirement was never fulfilled. Now, of course, we are going to do it as quickly as possible in the parliament. There are lots of things like those that can be done very quickly and finished very quickly."
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