The foreign ministers of 13 European Union countries today condemned the “violation of international norms” during parliamentary elections in Georgia, which they said were “incompatible with the standards” expected of a candidate country for membership.

“International observers reported violations (of the rules) during the election campaign and on voting day,” said the joint statement issued by the foreign ministers of Germany, France, Poland, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Ireland, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Portugal and Sweden.

At the same time, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs criticized “the premature visit to Georgia” of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who traveled to Tbilisi today to support the pro-Russian government. They added that they shared the concerns of observers and demanded an “impartial investigation” into the allegations made while warning that the protests should be “peaceful”.

Tens of thousands of Georgians, supporters of the pro-European opposition, demonstrated today to denounce the “theft”, as they say, of the elections.

In Washington, the State Department said it shared calls from observers to investigate all allegations. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said the US is not ruling out consequences if the Georgian government does not change course.

The government and electoral commission say the vote was free and fair, while observers noted significant violations.