Ministers of 13 EU states criticise Hungarian PM's “premature visit” to Georgia

Ministers of 13 European Union member states have issued a joint statement criticising Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban's trip to Georgia after the controversial parliamentary elections on 26 October. Source: European Pravda Details: In the joint statement, thirteen EU ministers criticised Prime Minister Orban's "premature visit to Georgia", stressing that he "does not speak on behalf of the EU".

They also expressed their deep concern over the current situation in Georgia and called for an investigation into the complaints about the parliamentary elections and for the elimination of the violations found.

"The violations of electoral integrity are incompatible with the standards expected from a candidate to the European Union. They are a betrayal of the Georgian people's legitimate European aspiration," the statement reads. The statement was signed by the foreign ministers and ministers for European affairs of Czechia, Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Finland, France, Ireland, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Poland, Portugal and Sweden.

Background: 

• Viktor Orban is known to have arrived in Tbilisi on the evening of 28 October to meet with Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze.

  Protesters were not happy about Orban's arrival and booed him.

• Earlier, the EU stressed that the Hungarian Prime Minister did not represent the position of all member states when he made this trip.
• Notably, Orban was among the first to congratulate the Georgian authorities on their election victory without waiting for the official results.

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