Hungary sent fake observers to Georgia’s elections
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The European Platform for Democratic Elections (EPDE) has once again uncovered a case involving politically biased “international observers” from Hungary at Georgia’s local elections.
Not the first case in Russia’s neighbour
The organisation identified 29 fake election observers who, rather than monitoring the process objectively, helped the ruling Georgian Dream party appear legitimate during the 4 October 2025 vote.
This practice is not new. The Georgian Dream party has previously invited politically aligned observers to counterbalance reports of irregularities from genuine international monitors, according to Telex. Similar tactics have long been used in Russia, Azerbaijan and Belarus.
According to the EPDE, the majority of these fake observers came from European countries, most notably Hungary and France, with smaller delegations from Poland, Italy, Malta, the United Kingdom and the United States. Representatives from Belarus and Uzbekistan were also present to give the appearance of geographical diversity.
Six of the fake observers were Hungarian
Among those identified were six Hungarians:
- András László, Fidesz Member of the European Parliament, who the EPDE says had already acted as a fake observer at the 2024 Georgian elections,
- Barbara Szilvia Hegedüs, Fidesz Member of the Hungarian Parliament,
- Norbert Révai-Bere, foreign policy adviser to the Hungarian Parliament and former Consul General in India,
- Fanni Lajkó, analyst at the Centre for Fundamental Rights,
- Juan Efraín Rocha, former government official at the Prime Minister’s Office,
- and László István Németh, head of the western Transdanubian branch of the Recsk Association.