Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban engineered another diplomatic divide with his European Union counterparts, pointedly siding with Georgia’s ruling party as the winner of parliamentary elections.
Orban, whose country holds the EU’s rotating presidency, told Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze during a visit to Georgia on Tuesday that he should ignore complaints about the election from the 27-nation bloc, and said the vote was free and democratic.
“European politics has its handbook, it is worth knowing: when liberal parties win, there is democracy, when conservatives win, there is not,” Orban told a joint news conference in the capital, Tbilisi. “Because the conservatives won, there will be debates, and they are not to be taken seriously.”
Prior to Orban’s departure for Georgia, the EU’s top diplomat Josep Borrell told Spanish public radio RNE that the rotating presidency conferred no authority in foreign policy on the Hungarian premier. A joint statement signed by ministers from 13 EU countries on Monday, including Germany, France, Poland and the Netherlands, said Orban doesn’t speak for the bloc.
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson told the TT news agency that Orban “possibly speaks for Russia, but he does not speak for the rest of us.”
The Hungarian leader has a history of provoking fellow EU leaders with foreign visits since the start of his country’s six-month presidency, even as he often insists he’s not representing the bloc. He sparked outrage days into the term in July by meeting with President Vladimir Putin in Moscow and Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Beijing as part of a self-styled “peace mission.”
Orban earlier this month endured an uncomfortable face-to-face rebuke from European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen for advancing Russia-friendly policies after he presented his priorities to EU lawmakers in Strasbourg, France.
“I congratulate you that while you keep a pro-EU policy, you averted your country from becoming a second Ukraine,” Orban told Kobakhidze.
Orban’s swift endorsement of the Georgian Dream party’s victory came after tens of thousands of people protested in Tbilisi late Monday in support of a call from President Salome Zourabichvili to reject the election result that she called a “total fraud.” Georgian Dream won 54% in Saturday’s vote to extend its 12-year rule by four more years, according to the Central Election Commission, while four parties backing a pro-European charter drawn up by Zourabichvili gained 38%.
“Your voice was stolen, and they attempted to steal your future as well, but no one has the right to do that,” Zourabichvili told the protesters, where she appeared alongside leaders of opposition parties that said they would refuse to take up their parliamentary mandates.
The political uncertainty has rattled investors, though shares in two of the country’s biggest stocks recovered somewhat in London trading. Bank of Georgia, which declined as much as 9.9% on Monday, and TBC Bank, which had slumped as much as 15%, both traded up on Tuesday. The lari remained little changed after the central bank sold $60 million last week to counter pre-election volatility.
Borrell in a statement Tuesday called for a “transparent inquiry” into election violations, saying developments in Georgia were “very worrying.” That followed Monday’s statement from the 13 EU ministers condemning “all violation of international norms for free and fair elections.”
The US has also called for an investigation into alleged irregularities in the vote.
Georgian Dream has rejected criticism of the election, which it said was conducted fairly. While international observers pointed to “highly divisive campaign rhetoric” and reports of intimidation, coercion and pressure on voters, they didn’t challenge the overall result.
“I see that no one dares to question that this election was free and democratic,” Orban told reporters. “Despite all the criticism, no one dares go this far. And rightly so.”
Independent observers in Georgia have raised concerns. One, the International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy, said violations during the pre-election period and on the day of the vote meant the results “cannot be considered a true reflection of the will of Georgian voters.”
The showdown in Georgia marks the latest alleged effort by the Kremlin to expand its influence in countries once in its orbit. It follows a closely fought referendum in Moldova that saw the government’s plan to seek EU membership approved by a slim margin amid claims of Russian meddling. In Bulgaria, a pro-Kremlin party scored a strong finish in an election Sunday.
Zourabichvili has labelled Georgia’s election a “Russian special operation” aimed at thwarting the country’s aim of joining the EU and Nato.
The ruling party passed a “foreign agent” law earlier this year targeting non-governmental organizations and media that the US and the EU labelled as “Kremlin-inspired” because it emulated legislation President Vladimir Putin used to crush dissent in Russia.
Brussels suspended membership talks with Georgia in response, and the US began a comprehensive review of relations with the Tbilisi government.
Also read:Georgia’s ruling party claims victory in divisive elections
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Publish date : 2024-10-30 08:11:00
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