BRUSSELS (AP) — Prime Minister Viktor Orban is once again highlighting how dysfunctional the European Union’s 27-nation family can be, with the Hungarian leader defiantly going against the grain in his response to Georgia’s disputed elections.
Orban, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s closest partner within the EU and Europe’s longest-serving leader, currently holds the EU’s rotating presidency, which is often the bloc’s global megaphone and which Orban has used in ways that undermine internal highlighting divisions.
The Hungarian leader has been instrumental in showing unity in confronting Russia over its war in Ukraine. Now, another point of contention has emerged in the disputed election results in Georgia, with the opposition claiming election fraud by the populist ruling party.
Orban’s office said he made a surprise trip to the Georgian capital on Monday to meet his allies.
The EU institutions, meanwhile, had spent much of the weekend carefully weighing a diplomatic statement that would express their dismay at the claimed victory of the Georgian Dream party, which they say is increasingly leaning towards Moscow and away from Brussels, just like many in the last century. The Soviet country is in favor of taking the path to EU accession.
But Orban, increasingly seen as Putin’s voice in the bloc, pre-empted EU statements before all votes were counted and congratulated “the Georgian Dream party on their landslide victory”, adding that Georgians “know what what is best for their country, and made their voices heard.” heard.”
The EU statement, which came a full day later, called on Georgian authorities to “fulfill their duty to investigate alleged election fraud quickly, transparently and independently.”
In addition to the allegations of vote fraud, we have “witnessed unprecedented levels of disinformation and harsh anti-EU rhetoric,” EU spokeswoman Nabila Massrali said. “Some of the stories used during this campaign were clearly and directly inspired by Russian propaganda.”
Anti-EU rhetoric these days is coming not just from Moscow or Georgia but also from Budapest, a challenge from within not seen since the most heated Brexit days when Britain campaigned to leave the bloc almost a decade ago .
Orbán’s antagonism reached a new milestone last week, when he told a crowd of supporters that the EU is trying to overthrow his government and “hang a Brussels puppet government around the country’s neck.” Days later, he accused the EU of installing the centre-right government in Poland to rid the country of its previous right-wing populist leadership. He has not provided any evidence to support either claim.
Orban’s trip to Georgia is not the first time he has drawn the ire of other EU leaders by going on a rogue trip.
In July, just days after Hungary took over the bloc’s rotating presidency, he traveled to Moscow for meetings with Putin under the auspices of a self-styled “peacekeeping mission,” a visit the Russian leader said took place on behalf of the EU presidency. .
But the bloc’s leaders were furious, heavily criticizing Orban for meeting Putin without informing them and underlining that Orban was not appearing on their behalf.
Since July, Orban has increasingly clashed with the rest of the bloc, mainly over the war in Ukraine. He has routinely blocked, delayed or weakened efforts to deliver aid to Kiev and sanction Russia, leading to criticism that he was damaging the EU and serving Moscow’s interests.
In another signal of his political priorities, Orbán left on Monday for a trip to Tbilisi while he was due to deliver a keynote address at a summit of EU member states’ parliamentary committees in Budapest, an appointment he canceled at the last minute to avoid Eurosceptic Georgian government to visit. leadership.
Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili, who supports opposition protests against the election results, saw the broader pattern.
“If he undermines the unity of the EU, it will not only happen through Georgia. So that is the European issue,” Zourabichvili said in an interview with The Associated Press. “Seeing Orbán come here and visit the prime minister is just a political play.”
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Justin Spike reported from Budapest. Emma Burrows contributed from Tbilisi, Georgia
