Visa Suspension Mechanism nella politica di allargamento: il caso della Georgia

This contribution aims to analyse the role played by the Visa Suspension Mechanism following the recent 2025 reform. In particular, the analysis focuses on the significance that this instrument may assume within the framework of enlargement policy, with specific reference to relations between the European Union and candidate countries. To this end, the paper examines, first, the legal evolution of the mechanism and, second, its first application in the Georgian case, focusing on the reasons that led to that decision. The analysis shows how the mechanism, originally conceived as a safeguard clause, has progressively assumed the function of an ex post conditionality instrument aimed at inducing the realignment of the country concerned with the path of European integration.