Hungary’s PM Orban visits Georgia after disputed election

TBILISI (Reuters) — Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban paid a surprise visit to Georgia on Monday, two days after the ruling party declared victory in an election which the opposition says was marred by voting violations.

Georgia’s electoral commission said Georgian Dream won Saturday’s election with nearly 54% of the vote, but opposition parties disputed the results and called for protests.

The election results are a blow for pro-Western Georgians who had cast the vote as a choice between a ruling party that has deepened ties with Russia and an opposition aiming to fast-track integration with Europe.

Orban, who holds the European Council’s rotating presidency, congratulated Georgian Dream on Saturday on its election victory.

“Georgia is a conservative, Christian and pro-Europe state,” he wrote on social media platform X after his arrival on Monday. “Instead of useless lecturing, they need our support on their European path.”

Georgian Dream has faced strong criticism from the EU and the United States over some of its policies, and it has also forged cordial ties with Russia, but the party says it still fully supports the country’s bid to join the EU.

Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto wrote on Facebook on Monday the Georgian result was an “ugly defeat” for liberals.

Szijjarto joined Orban on his visit to Tbilisi on Monday, as did Hungary’s finance and economy ministers.

Hungary has angered fellow members of the EU and NATO with its own determination to maintain close ties with Russia despite the 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

The EU, the United States and NATO have all called for a full investigation of alleged irregularities in the Georgian election. Georgian Dream and the electoral commission say the vote was free and fair.

Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili called the result a “Russian special operation,” accused the ruling party on Monday of resorting to Russian-style tactics and propaganda, and called for Georgians to take to the streets on Monday evening.

The Kremlin on Monday denied any Russian interference in the vote, saying it was the West, not Moscow, that was trying to destabilise the situation.

In July, Orban stoked controversy when he travelled on what the Hungarian government described as a “peace mission” to Moscow and Beijing during Hungary’s presidency without coordinating with its EU partners.