Hungary will be “vocal” in Council of the EU for Georgia’s integration - Parliament Committee Chair
MP Maka Botchorishvili noted the “close partnership” benefited “not only bilateral ties, but also Georgia’s EU integration goals”. Photo: EU Integration Committee
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Maka Botchorishvili, the Chair of the Georgian Parliament's European Union Integration Committee, on Wednesday said Hungary was expected to be “vocal” in voicing its support for Georgia’s European integration at the Council of the European Union, the bloc’s key decision-maker, ahead of the EU’s decision later this year whether to grant Tbilisi its membership candidate status.
The lawmaker’s press comment, which also claimed “close ties have been developed” between the two countries over the past several years, came amid the ongoing official visit of Viktor Orbán, the Hungarian Prime Minister, to Georgia.
She noted the “close partnership” benefited “not only bilateral ties, but also Georgia’s EU integration goals”.
Hungary openly says that Tbilisi deserves not only the bloc’s candidacy, but also its membership”, Botchorishvili said.
In his previous comments, Orbán slammed the European Council’s decision last year on granting Tbilisi a European perspective instead of the full candidate status as “unfair”, and called for a “merit-based” outcome later this year, while describing himself as the “most devoted supporter” of Georgia’s European integration.
He is scheduled to hold a face-to-face meeting with his Georgian counterpart Irakli Garibashvili in the afternoon, before the officials make joint press comments.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili on Tuesday hosted his visiting Hungarian counterpart Viktor Orbán and his wife at a dinner in Bioli wellness resort near Tbilisi, where the officials discussed “friendly ties and partnership” in an informal environment before their scheduled official meeting on Wednesday, the Government press office said.
Viktor Orbán, the Hungarian Prime Minister, arrived in Georgia on Tuesday on an official visit alongside his wife and representatives of his Government, the Georgian Government Administration said.
Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the European Commission, on Friday said her meeting with the Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili on the sidelines of the European Political Community Summit in Granada had reviewed Georgia’s “progress” on the European integration path.
Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orbán on Friday highlighted his “devotion” to Georgia's European Union membership on the sidelines of the European Political Community Summit in Granada.
Ilia Darchiashvili, the Georgian Foreign Minister, on Wednesday said the ongoing visit of Viktor Orbán, the Hungarian Prime Minister, to Georgia expressed the country’s “strong support” for Georgia’s European integration ahead of the bloc’s forthcoming decision on Tbilisi’s candidate status later this year.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili on Wednesday told his Hungarian counterpart Viktor Orbán his Government had ensured an “open, transparent and inclusive process” for the implementation of the conditions outlined by the European Union last year for granting Tbilisi its membership candidate status.
Nunuka Tamazashvili and Anikó Lévai, the spouses of Georgian and Hungarian prime ministers, Irakli Garibashvili and Viktor Orbán, on Wednesday were hosted at Georgian artist David Kakabadze’s enamel and goldsmith workshop.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili on Wednesday hailed Viktor Orbán, the visiting Hungarian counterpart, as an “exemplary leader and politician” at a dinner hosted at Tsinandali Radisson Collection in eastern Georgia, while also extending his gratitude for “true friendship” and “firm support” for his country’s European integration.
Péter Szijjártó, the Hungarian Foreign Minister, on Thursday said the European Union had treated Georgia “unfairly” by granting its candidate status to Ukraine and Moldova but not to Tbilisi last year.
Georgian and Hungarian authorities on Thursday signed 10 agreements on cooperation between state agencies of the two countries, from technical cooperation to ties in finance, defence, justice and more.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili on Thursday slammed the European Union’s “unfair rejection” of the membership candidate status for his country last year, and stressed his Government was expecting a “just, rational” and “merit-based” decision on the status later this year.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán on Thursday said his Government was “very disappointed and angry” at the European Council’s 2022 decision not to grant Georgia its membership candidate status while granting it to the countries that were “far behind” in terms of their qualifications.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili on Thursday said the first intergovernmental summit between his country and Hungary marked a “historic day” in bilateral ties, while also praising Viktor Orbán, the visiting Hungarian PM, as a “true friend” of his country and a “firm supporter” of Tbilisi’s Euro-Atlantic aspirations and territorial integrity.