Georgia and EU signed in Brussels on November 22 readmission treaty setting out obligations and procedures of the parties as to when and how to take back people who are illegally residing on their territories.

The agreement was signed by Georgia's Foreign Minister Grigol Vashadze and Cecilia Malmström, European Commissioner for Home Affairs, as well as by Belgian Migration State Secretary Melchior Wathelet, whose country holds EU's rotating presidency.

The signing of the treaty comes five months after EU and Georgia signed visa facilitation treaty. The two agreements will go into force together a month after they are ratified by both the European Parliament and the Georgian legislative body.

"I am very pleased that both agreements have now been signed - this means that Georgians will be able to travel more easily while maintaining the efforts to clamp down on irregular migration," Commissioner Malmström said.

European Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighborhood Policy Stefan Füle said that relations with Georgia "remain high on our agenda."