Orbán travels to Georgia, booed by protesters in front of hotel

Protests of the head of state, opposition demonstrations and contradicting figures have followed what participants consider to be a decisive parliamentary election in Georgia. In spite of this, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán was not only the first to congratulate the ruling party, which has been in power for 12 years and claims to have won – and which the EU believes is leading Georgia, which was granted EU candidate-status last year, back towards Moscow – but he also arrived in the South Caucasus country on Monday afternoon for a two-day visit with extraordinary speed.

From the airport he headed to the Prime Minister's office, and a press conference is expected to be held after the meeting, but the exact time is unknown.
However, videos have already emerged on X showing Orbán's delegation being greeted by counter-protesters outside the Marriott Hotel in Tbilisi. The crowd reacted to his arrival with loud booing and shouting:

The EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, referring to doubts about the election results, said: “We call on the Georgian Central Election Commission and other competent bodies to carry out their duty and investigate the electoral irregularities and allegations thoroughly, transparently and in an independent process.”

In light of the EU statement, Orbán's visit to Georgia is complicated by the fact that Hungary currently holds the rotating EU presidency, so Orbán may appear to be coming as a representative of the EU, as he did during his visit to Moscow in July. Orbán was the first EU leader to hold bilateral talks with Putin since the war against Ukraine started in February 2022. At the time, the EU indicated that Orbán was not travelling to the Russian capital on behalf of the EU.

The swift recognition of the Georgian election result by both Orbán and the Kremlin may provide further argument for those who believe that the Hungarian Prime Minister is deliberately deviating from the general EU consensus and taking a position in line with Moscow.

The election result is also rejected by the Georgian president, with several opposition parties, including the United National Movement founded by former president Mikheil Saakashvili, who has been in prison for three years, calling for a boycott of parliament. The opposition has called a demonstration to coincide with Orbán's arrival.

12 years ago Orbán supported the current opposition

Orbán personally campaigned for the jailed opposition leader Saakashvili during the 2012 parliamentary elections, arguing for the country's European future, and thus essentially against the very Georgian Dream party that came to power shortly afterwards.

According to the EU, the government of Georgia, which became an EU candidate country last year, has adopted a number of laws that threaten the democratic rule of the country of 3.6 million people. These include a law banning LGBTQ propaganda, written in the spirit of Putin's Russia, and a law on foreign agents. The opposition says these will make civil society and political competition impossible, while the government says they will only strengthen family values and transparency.