European Council president Charles Michel on Thursday warned against the notion of boycotting upcoming European gatherings under Hungary's EU presidency, calling it a "false good idea".
Hungary -- whose Prime Minister Viktor Orban stands out within the European Union for his sympathies towards Russia -- is to host the European Political Community (EPC) summit on November 7, in which Georgia will participate, followed by an EU leaders' meeting on November 8.
"Boycotting the meeting in Budapest is a very bad idea," Michel told journalists during a visit to Geneva, where he met the heads of the International Committee of the Red Cross and major UN agencies.
"I know that some are tempted to boycott because there is irritation in a number of capitals over statements or trips by the Hungarian prime minister; and I am trying to convince my friends who believe deeply in European unity and European integration not to be tempted by a false good idea," he added.
Orban, long a thorn in the EU's side for his government's backsliding on the bloc's democratic principles and rule of law, remains defiantly friendly with the Kremlin more than two years into Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The nationalist leader was blasted by almost all other EU countries for his surprise visit to Moscow shortly after taking over the six-month rotating EU presidency in July.
Orban said Tuesday in Tbilisi that Georgia's parliamentary election, the results of which have been bitterly contested by the pro-EU opposition, had been "free and democratic".
International observers, the EU and the United States have criticised electoral irregularities and demanded a full investigation.
Orban hit out Thursday at Sweden's Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, saying on X he "accuses me of representing the interests of Russia in Georgia. He was obviously instructed to do so by Washington. How sad."
Michel said: "I think if we have comments -- and there are some to make to Victor Orban -- we should go and make them in person, rather than not going to Budapest."
Michel also stressed the importance of honouring Georgia's invitation to the EPC summit, stressing that it is a country "where all the indicators show that the population has sincere and broad European aspirations".
"Let us not take actions that throw Georgia and the Georgians into the arms of Russia," he insisted.