Viktor Orbán defies EU in backing Georgia’s contested election result

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free

Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.

Hungary’s pro-Russian prime minister Viktor Orbán has defied fellow EU leaders and hailed Georgia’s contested election as “free and democratic” despite mounting evidence of vote rigging.

“When liberals win, Brussels calls it democracy. When conservatives win, they say it’s not democracy. Don’t take it too seriously — it’s business as usual,” Orbán said on Tuesday at a news conference alongside Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze.

The Hungarian premier is the only EU leader who recognised Saturday’s parliamentary election results.

The European Commission said Orbán was not representing the EU on his Georgia trip, despite Hungary holding the rotating presidency of the bloc. His visit took place “exclusively in the framework of bilateral relations between Hungary and Georgia,” a Commission spokesperson said on Tuesday. 

A group of 13 EU countries, led by Germany, France and Poland, on Monday evening described Orbán’s visit as “premature” and reiterated that he was not there on the bloc’s behalf. They also warned Tbilisi that “violations of electoral integrity are incompatible with the standards expected from a candidate to the European Union”.

International and local election observers have not deemed the elections “free” or “fair”, citing voter intimidation, ballot fraud, and an overall “uneven playing field”. Both Nato and the European Union have called for a full investigation into the incidents.

The largest domestic observer group, My Vote, on Tuesday filed 189 complaints to the Central Election Commission demanding it annul the results from 189 precincts, where more than 300,000 voters were registered, according to Eka Gigauri, head of Transparency International Georgia, which organised the mission.

Gigauri told the Financial Times that observers recorded incidents in about 10 per cent of the precincts, up from 2-3 per cent of precincts in the last parliamentary election. Monitoring this vote felt “like a battlefield”, Gigauri said.

Other than Hungary and Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia have also recognised the result.

Orbán’s visit to the small Caucasus nation was aimed at showing support for the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party, which claimed victory in what the opposition has called “completely falsified” elections.

GD, founded by pro-Russian oligarch Bidzina Ivanishvili, who Orbán counts as an ideological ally, is nominally pro-EU integration. But the Georgian government defied Brussels earlier this year when pushing through a law critics say will enable a crackdown on dissent modelled on similar legislation in Russia and Hungary.

The Commission has in effect frozen Georgia’s accession process and suspended €121mn in funding. The country is lagging behind Ukraine and Moldova on its path to EU membership. The alleged vote fraud could further dent the country’s EU ambitions.

An EU diplomat with knowledge of an upcoming Commission report on enlargement said that it included a recommendation not to open accession talks with Georgia.

On Monday, thousands of Georgians dissatisfied with the election result gathered in front of the parliament in Tbilisi after President Salome Zourabichvili and opposition leaders urged citizens to “peacefully defend their vote”.

“You did not lose the elections! Your vote was stolen, and they tried to steal your future as well. But no one has the right to do that,” Zourabichvili told protesters who were waving Georgian and EU flags. Local media estimated that around 15,000 people attended the rally.

Opposition leaders have refused to take up their parliamentary seats. Giorgi Vashadze, head of the United National Movement coalition, vowed that the opposition would “push for a new vote under international supervision”.

Shortly before the rally ended, Orbán arrived at his hotel near the parliament. Protesters booed and hurled abuse at him, with some shouting “Putin backer”.

Ahead of the elections, Orbán had endorsed an EU statement calling for the vote to be “free and fair” and raising “serious concern regarding the course of action taken by the Georgian government”.