Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze Budapest on 23 October at the invitation of Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar to attend commemorations marking the 70th anniversary of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution. It was Kobakhidze’s first visit to Hungary since Viktor Orbán, a close political ally of Georgia’s ruling Georgian Dream party, lost power to Magyar’s Tisza party in the April parliamentary elections.

Kobakhidze alongside an international delegation that included European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, European Council President António Costa, Moldovan President Maia Sandu and Ukrainian parliamentary speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk. His Georgian delegation included Defence Minister Irakli Chikovani and Head of the Government Administration Levan Zhorzholiani. During the visit, Kobakhidze spoke with Magyar about bilateral relations at the official reception. Speaking to journalists in Budapest on 24 October, Kobakhidze that he hoped cooperation between the two countries would continue and promised efforts to deepen ties. “Everything will be done to further deepen the bilateral relations between Georgia and Hungary,” he said. Kobakhidze framed the reception as an opportunity to discuss the relationship with the new Hungarian prime minister “in depth”. Kobakhidze also a photograph from the visit showing an encounter with Stefanchuk, but neither side publicly released details of that interaction.

Former Georgian president Zourabichvili the invitation in a post on X, questioning why the Hungarian government would invite the Georgian prime minister to celebrate the uprising against Soviet rule. Zourabichvili described Georgia’s government as having “turned Georgia’s back to the EU”, pursued an aggressive anti-EU campaign and supported Russia’s renewed influence in the country, ending her post with: “Really!!!” Her criticism referred to Georgian Dream’s announcement that it would not pursue EU accession talks until 2028, a decision that contributed to a severe deterioration in relations between Tbilisi and Brussels. The government has faced further European criticism over its handling of pro-EU protests and the Constitutional Court proceedings launched by Georgian Dream MPs to ban five opposition parties. These proceedings began during the week of Kobakhidze’s Budapest visit.