"Hungary is lucky to have such a visionary leader" - Georgian Prime Minister in Budapest

Garibashvili in Budapest

Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili spoke at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference in Budapest. He said that the Hungarian people are very lucky to have “such a wise and far-sighted” leader. “The forces that oppose the truth are trying to achieve their goals with the help of LGBT propaganda,” Garibashvili said.

“How do the forces opposed to freedom and truth try to achieve their goals? Through the destruction of traditional family values and the appeal to false freedom — for example, LGBT propaganda and trying to legislate bypassing parents for sex change operations, to impose so-called “innovations” that tear people away from their roots, family, traditions, culture and history. It is easy to manage a person who has forgotten his history, his faith. So in such a difficult time, traditional, Christian, family, conservative values are our main weapon and support,” the Prime Minister said.

As Garibashvili has it, no one should limit their interests at the expense of the interests of others: “We respect the rights of each of our citizens and prove it with our actions.”

“We adopted the Anti-Discrimination Law, which strictly protects the constitutionally guaranteed rights of our citizens. But we also defend the rights of the majority, for whom the family is a union between a man and a woman. Where the woman is the mother and the man is the father. We protect the rights of the absolute majority of our population, which supported my initiative in 2014, on the basis of which our political party later introduced the definition of marriage into the constitution as a union between a man and a woman,” Garibashvili said.

According to him, the vast majority of Georgian society shares traditional conservative family values. These values are not just a legacy of the past, acording to Garibashvili, but a living present, an environment in which “we grew up and want to raise our children”:

“I am the father of four children, and together with most Georgian parents, I want to raise my future generation with unique values based on Christianity, the way our parents raised us. Therefore we will protect the rights of everyone. But just as we will not allow violence against a minority, we will not allow violence of a minority against a majority.”

As the Prime Minister says, adherence to tradition does not mean that we should refuse renewal, “but we know that evil often comes in the name of renewal.” According to him, this was the case with fascism, and more than once in history.

“Our patriarch said that no one fights for freedom in the name of slavery. No one opposes the truth in the name of a lie, but also in the name of a false truth.”

Garibashvili also thanked Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban:

“I would like to take this opportunity to once again thank Prime Minister Orban for appreciating these efforts and for his continued support.

During his speech in Dallas, Prime Minister Orban joked that Hungary is not really a superpower, and Georgia, an even smaller country, never aspired to become one. But we still have a superpower. This force is faith, our families and our traditions are eternal and universal values. It is through unity that we can resist the evil that comes in the name of false freedom.”

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On April 27, the official website published information that Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili was among the speakers of an anti-LGBT forum planned in Hungary.

According to the Associated Press, the conference of American conservatives will be held in Europe for the second time, and this year its motto will be “Together we are strong.” As the organization notes, the focus of the conference will be “the nightmare of the liberals: the international alliance of national forces.”

As the publication wrote in January, Hungary is largely isolated in Europe due to a right-wing populist government and is looking for like-minded people outside the country.

The Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), organized by the American Conservative Union, was first held in 1974. This annual event is also held in different countries. Hungary is hosting the conference for the second year.

The Hungarian government, considered the most pro-Russian and populist EU government, and the Georgian government make no secret of their sympathy for each other’s policies. In October 2022, Viktor Orban called his Georgian counterpart Irakli Garibashvili “a great politician among the few” who “returned”, and the Georgian Prime Minister noted that the Georgian government took many examples from Hungary and shared their successful reforms.