PES Concerned Over GD’s Alignment with Conservative Forum in Budapest
On April 28, representatives from various political parties and organizations within the Party of European Socialists (PES) met online and discussed, among other issues, the situation surrounding Georgian Dream, which has an observer member status in the PES. The PES expressed deep concern about the latest actions and statements made by the Georgian Prime Minister, Irakli Garibashvili, who is scheduled to attend an ultra-conservative forum in Budapest this week and shares positions with Viktor Orbán, the Prime Minister of Hungary.
The Conservative Political Action Conference is hosted for the second time on May 4-5 by Orbán, in collaboration with CPAC, which is the largest and most influential gathering of conservatives that brings together activists and politicians in the U.S. This development has raised questions and alarm about the state of democracy and civil liberties in Hungary.
Giacomo Filibeck, the PES Executive Secretary General, stated that: “If a Prime Minister from a PES Observer member party wants to share values with Viktor Orbán and the American Conservative Political Action Conference, then we need to officially discuss the status of this party.”
The case with the observer membership of ‘Georgian Dream’ had been already raised by PES President Stefan Löfven at the previous presidency meeting in March and will be presented for discussion and revision at the next presidency meeting in June 2023.
After the PEC raised concerns about Georgian Dream’s alignment with Orbán and the PM’s participation in the CPAC forum, Mamuka Mdinaradze, the executive secretary of Georgian Dream, said: “Perhaps we should talk more about the revision of relations, if it is unacceptable for them that GD participates in a conference discussing traditional values, faith and freedom, and preservation of national identity.”
He emphasized that the party upholds the rights of all groups while “not giving up national identity” and “not engaging in propaganda”. He argued that these values should not be a cause for terminating cooperation with the party.
Grigol Gegelia, Foreign Secretary of Lelo Party, stated that Georgian Dream will be expelled from the remaining political alliance it is still a part of, at the end of the year, during the congress held in Spain: “The expulsion of Georgian Dream from the club by its own family will be the final verdict on the Georgian government,”-he added. Gegelia also mentioned that the expulsion of the Georgian Dream from the political alliance has significant support among the member parties, and the main political leaders of the alliance also support the decision. “As a result, they will no longer formally have any friends in the European political arena, and specifically in the European Parliament,” -he said. According to him the last days of the Georgian Dream will be marked by being sanctioned by the USA, excluded from European politics, rejected by the Georgian people, and praised by Lavrov.
Also Read:
- 27/10/2022 – Prime Minister visits Hungary
- 29/07/2022 – – Foreign Minister Visits Hungary
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