Kobakhidze Attends Events Marking Anti-Soviet Uprising Anniversary in Budapest

Georgian Dream Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze was in Budapest on October 23 to attend events marking the 70th anniversary of the Hungarian anti-Soviet uprising, in his first visit to the Hungarian capital since Georgian Dream’s close ally Viktor Orbán lost power to Péter Magyar’s party in the April elections. Georgian government’s official press releases showed Kobakhidze alongside Magyar and other European leaders and officials, attending a series of events commemorating the revolutionary events of 1956 that, after initial success, ended with the Soviet Red Army brutally suppressing the uprising.

Guests included European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, European Council President Antonio Costa, Moldovan President Maia Sandu, Ukrainian Parliamentary Speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk, former NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, and officials and delegations from different countries. However, the media reported that many leaders of European countries were also absent despite invitations. The commemorative events attended by Kobakhidze included a gala concert and an official reception hosted by Magyar, according to the Georgian government’s press release. Hungary under Viktor Orbán has in recent years been the closest European partner of the Georgian Dream government amid Tbilisi’s isolation from the country’s traditional Western partners. Budapest has remained among the few European destinations for Georgian Dream officials’ trips, including to take…