The Hungarian Prime Minister is in Tbilisi today Viktor Orban. The aim is to support the ruling pro-Russian party that allegedly won the parliamentary elections.

Last Saturday’s election results, which are openly disputed by several EU member states, raise questions about the country’s European course.

At Agriculture which has been a candidate for membership in the European Union since last December, the ruling party “Georgian Dream” reportedly won these elections with a percentage of 54%. Pro-European opposition parties, however, dispute the result, while observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) noted significant irregularities.

Yesterday, in fact, the president of Georgia, Salome Zourabivili, announced that she does not recognize the results of the parliamentary elections, claiming that her country was the victim of a “special operation” by Russia, while she called on Georgians to gather tonight in Tbilisi to protest what she called it “a complete fraud, a complete theft of your votes”.

The pro-Russian “Georgian Dream”

The “Georgian Dream” politically led by pro-Russian oligarch Bidzina Ivanishvili – has ruled the country for 12 years. His anti-European rhetoric as well as the recent adoption of a controversial law on “foreign agents” led to a “freeze” of the country’s accession progress, last June with a relevant decision of the European Council.

Viktor Orban’s two-day visit to Tbilisi is a “red flag” for Brussels. The Hungarian prime minister – without waiting for the announcement of the official results – hastened to congratulate the pro-Russian ruling party of Georgia for its “overwhelming victory” in the elections.

Orban will hold talks with various government officials, which is expected to further inflame the already polarized atmosphere in Tbilisi while also complicating the EU’s stance on developments, mainly due to the six-month presidency of the EU Council. , which his country exercises until the end of December.

After all, his previous visits in the same capacity to Moscow and Beijing provoked strong reactions from the European leaders, as well as the heads of the European institutions, last July. The announcement of Orban’s trip to Tbilisi was made at a time when Brussels had not yet taken an official position on the election results in Georgia.

The dilemma of the EU

Late last night, the Commission issued a statement asking the country’s authorities to “immediately, independently and transparently investigate” all allegations of irregularities, while European Council President Charles Michel called on the Central Electoral Commission to clarify and deal with seriousness of the issue.

“We repeat the call of the EU to the leadership of Georgia to demonstrate its firm commitment to the country’s European path,” said the president of the European Council. Charles Michel announced, at the same time, that the informal EU Summit on November 8, in Budapest will further evaluate the developments in Georgia.

In any case, the EU faces a critical dilemma: if it accepts the victory of the pro-Russian party it will seriously hurt the pro-European opposition, while if it refuses to recognize the election results it will fuel the rhetoric of the ruling party that Brussels is working on a plan to to overthrow the government.

At a critical juncture – in the run-up to both the US elections and in the midst of the war in Ukraine – if the EU finally leaves Georgia to its “fate”, the country will have no choice but to turn exclusively to Moscow.