Hungarian leader ignores EU criticism while supporting Georgian elections
Hungarian PM Viktor Orban made an unexpected trip to Georgia despite EU ministers disapproval. His visit came right after disputed local elections which caused street protests in Tbilisi
Viktor Orban made a non-standard visit to Tbilisi last fall which got quick push-back from EU leaders. The Hungarian prime-minister (who often takes pro-Russian positions) declared Georgian elections fully democratic — this statement came right after wide-spread reports about voting problems.
Around ten-thousand people gathered near parliament building to show their dis-satisfaction with vote counting; international observers found many issues during election day. The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe noticed ballot-box stuffing voter pressure and fights near polling places
Nobody dares question that this election was fair and democratic
A group of thirteen EU ministers published a joint-statement criticizing Orbans solo-trip to Georgia. This wasnt his first controversial move — about a year-and-half ago he went on self-proclaimed peace-mission to Moscow and Beijing without telling other EU members
The ruling Georgian Dream party keeps saying elections were proper but Western countries want deeper look into reported problems. Georgia got its EU candidate status last winter but Brussels says the process stopped because of the ruling partys non-democratic actions. Still Georgian leaders claim they support moving towards EU membership while keeping ok relations with Russia
