The Hungarian Minister of Justice Judit Varga visited Georgia on July 5 to support the country’s push for accession to the European Union.
Visiting the capital Tbilisi, she voiced her government’s full backing for the small Caucasus nation’s aim to become part of the bloc.
Varga is set to resign as a minister at the end of July. She will run in the European Parliament elections next year as Hungary’s ruling Fidesz party’s lead candidate.
In the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Georgia applied for EU membership alongside Moldova and Ukraine. Unlike the latter two, however, Georgia was not granted candidate status but was given ‘EU Perspective’, which in EU-speak means Georgia is currently a candidate to become a candidate.
While in Georgia, Varga met the country’s Justice Minister Rati Bregadze, with whom she signed a Memorandum of Understanding on expanding bilateral ties between Hungary and Georgia.
Georgia's EU accession is a priority & we do our utmost to help the country in the process towards integration. That's why I signed a MoU w/ my Georgian counterpart Rati Bregadze to further expand our bilateral relations & continue exchanging experience on judicial issues.????? pic.twitter.com/Kw8xLcmES4
— Judit Varga (@JuditVarga_EU) July 5, 2023
The deputy speaker of the Georgian Parliament Archil Talakvadze applauded Hungary’s EU push on his country’s behalf. Speaking to the Georgian press he said that as his country “continues dialogue with all EU member states … Hungary’s support is very positive and important”.
Some in Georgia and in the EU capital accuse the current ruling Georgian Dream party of being corrupt, oligarchic and of trying to pull the country in a pro-Russia direction.
This spring Georgia witnessed mass protests when the government tried to bring in so-called foreign agents legislation that demonstrators claimed was reminiscent of a 2012 Russian law the Kremlin has used extensively to crack down on civil society and independent media. Opponents said the proposed law, which was not approved, was a threat to ordinary Georgians and a gagging of free speech.
The government is also under fire from numerous quarters over its treatment of the former president Mikhail Saakashvili, who is imprisoned on corruption charges and has been on hunger strike. Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is among those demanding Saakashvili’s release, and his imprisonment has been condemned by the European Parliament.
Georgia is likely to need as much help as it can get in its bid to join the EU. In delivering an ‘oral update’ , the European Commission said it did not see Georgia making much progress, probably not enough to gain full candidate status by the end of this year.
Through Varga, observers say, it is possible that Georgia may find itself gaining increased support in its bid to enter the EU, should she be elected an MEP.
Other rumours posit that Hungary may even threaten to veto Ukraine’s accession bid to try to force the EU into giving full Georgia candidacy.
