Members and supporters of the far-right Conservatives for Georgia party rallied outside Parliament in Tbilisi on Sunday, December 7, before marching to the Holy Trinity Cathedral, to protest an Emirati investment that they say would lead to the construction of two “Arab cities” in Georgia.
Georgian Dream authorities have promoted the “$6.5 billion” real-estate project by Abu Dhabi-based Eagle Hills as the “largest investment” in Georgia’s history. The project is set to create large-scale residential and commercial areas near Tbilisi and Batumi, but the investment has drawn multiple lines of criticism over the secrecy surrounding the agreement, its financial viability, and the feared ecological and social impacts.
The project also attracted a separate nativist backlash from ultra-conservative, anti-immigration groups, who railed against what they termed Georgia’s “Arabization.”
“If we have enough inner strength and discipline to carry this struggle through to the end, we will win,” Zura Makharadze, one of the party’s leaders, addressed crowds in front of the Parliament. “Foreigners will no longer be the priority in Georgia. A time will come when Georgians will say that Georgia is a place for Georgians – to live, to rejoice, to raise families, and to live with dignity,” he added.
The Conservatives for Georgia emerged as a political party from the Alt-Info movement, an ultra-conservative, anti-Western, pro-Russian, and anti-liberal group that rose to infamy through orchestrating violent homophobic pogroms, including attacks on journalists in July 2021. Several of its leaders are under U.S. sanctions. The party won a single mandate in the Tbilisi City Council (Sakrebulo) in the partially boycotted municipal vote in 2025.
The Eagle Hills project was first announced in January during Georgian Dream Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze’s visit to the United Arab Emirates and gained renewed attention in September, when party founder and Honorary Chairman Bidzina Ivanishvili received a UAE delegation led by President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. Georgian Dream officials have promoted the deal as a transformative boost to the economy.
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