Hungarian PM’s visit “message of strong support” for Georgia’s EU integration - FM

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. 

Highlighting the importance of Georgia’s cooperation with the EU, the official also pointed to the importance of “individual work” with the bloc’s member states, as their votes would determine whether Georgia obtained the status in December. 

Hungary has always supported and will support Georgia’s EU aspirations”, the FM stressed. 

Reiterating Georgia “deserved” the status, Darchiashvili also said the Hungarian PM’s visit would further enhance the cooperation for the Black Sea submarine electricity cable project, the deal signed in Bucharest last year between Georgia, Azerbaijan, Romania and Hungary to export green energy to Europe via the South Caucasus. 

Hailing the “close partnership” with Hungary, the Minister said the PM’s arrival with his Government officials and a planned intergovernmental commission meeting would give “further impetus” to existing bilateral cooperation. 

Orbán, who arrived in Georgia on Tuesday with his wife and delegation, is meeting with his Georgian counterpart Irakli Garibashvili at the Government offices in Tbilisi.