TBILISI (Reuters) – Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban arrived in Georgia on Monday after having congratulated the ruling party on its 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 congratulated Georgian Dream party on their victory on Saturday.
“The people of Georgia know what is best for their country, and made their voice heard today!” he wrote on X.
Orban was accompanied on his visit to Georgia by Hungary’s finance, economy and foreign ministers.
Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto wrote on Facebook on Monday the Georgian result was an “ugly defeat” for liberals.
Hungary – which currently holds the presidency of the EU Council – has angered fellow members of the EU and NATO with its determination to maintain close ties with Russia despite the 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
The European Union, the United States and NATO have called for a full investigation of alleged election irregularities. 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 has described as a “peace mission” to Moscow and Beijing during Hungary’s presidency without coordinating with its EU partners.
(Reporting by Anita Komuves in Budapest, Felix Light in Tbilisi, Editing by Alan Charlish and Angus MacSwan)
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