If opposition won, EU would call Georgia's vote democratic: Hungary's Orban

Georgia's governing party, which has faced massive opposition protests demanding the annulment of its declared victory in the weekend parliamentary election, is getting a boost with the visit from Hungary's prime minister.

Victor Orban, the first foreign leader to congratulate Georgian Dream, arrived on Monday in Georgia on a trip that highlighted his rifts within the European Union.

Amid "allegations of vote rigging", the Kremlin has rejected the accusations of interference.

The EU has said Orban doesn't have any mandate from the bloc for the visit.

'Becoming a second Ukraine'

Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze, a member of Georgian Dream, described his party’s success as “impressive and obvious,” and that “any attempts to talk about election manipulation are doomed to failure.”

During Tuesday's meeting with Orban, Kobakhidze thanked him for his support of Georgia's integration into the EU and noted that the two countries show values and approaches.

Orban, in his turn, declared that Georgia's parliamentary election, whose results have been bitterly contested by the opposition, had been "free and democratic".

The Hungarian prime minister, who has maintained friendly ties to Russia, congratulated the Georgian people for "having voted for peace" and "not letting your country become a second Ukraine".

Orban, the current holder of the European Union's rotating presidency, said that "if the opposition had won, Brussels would have called Saturday's vote "democratic".