Crowds led by the far-right Conservative Movement/Alt-Info group rallied again on September 20 against the controversial UAE-based Eagle Hills investment and its planned large-scale development projects near Batumi and Tbilisi.
The rally, billed by organizers as a “rally against Arab towns,” took place at Tbilisi’s Liberty Square, with participants filling a section of the square as organizers addressed them from the crowd to announce the creation of “National Unity for the Protection of Georgian Lands,” an initiative intended to bring together groups and individuals opposed to the Emirati investment.
“Starting tomorrow, we will begin active consultations and meetings with all political groups, scholars, demographers, public figures, lawyers and economists who hold sound national positions, so that through our joint efforts we can protect the vital interests of our state and our nation,” Giorgi Kardava, one of the group’s leaders, told the supporters, noting that the consultations on forming the new movement would begin immediately.
He said the initiative would establish a “National Council for the Protection of Georgian Lands” to serve as its coordinating body.
“This council will have a nonpartisan, supra-political character and objectives, because the protection of Georgian land and the safeguarding of the living space of the Georgian nation stand above everyone and everything else,” Kardava said. “Its doors will be open to everyone who agrees with the main, fundamental principle: Georgian land is not for sale.”
Kardava also said the group intended to “further expand the scale of the demonstrations” and pursue other political, informational and legal measures against the developments, including through lawsuits.
“In the near future, lawsuits and applications prepared by our lawyers will be submitted to the Constitutional Court of Georgia, the Panel of Administrative Cases and the Prosecutor’s Office,” he said. “We will substantiate our position through legal arguments as well and clearly raise the issue that the construction of Arab towns in Georgia is unacceptable.”
Georgian Dream Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili, speaking at a September 21 press briefing, likened the campaign against Eagle Hills to the 2020-2021 Namakhvani HPP protests. “Alt-Info and the National Movement are on one front against Georgia’s interests. This is a repeat of Namakhvani HPP,” he said, claiming the earlier campaign was “planned from abroad.” Papuashvili said the state was now “much stronger” and would not allow what he called another “absurd campaign.”
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 latest protest follows a December 2025 demonstration by members and supporters of the far-right group, who rallied outside Parliament in Tbilisi before marching to the Holy Trinity Cathedral to protest the Emirati investment. The protesters have characterized the Eagle Hills developments as the construction of two “Arab towns” and have voiced fears about immigration and demographic change.
Georgian Dream authorities have promoted the roughly “USD 6.5 billion” Eagle Hills investment as the largest investment in Georgia’s history and a major economic opportunity for the country. The plans envision large residential and commercial developments near Tbilisi and Batumi.
The project was first announced in January 2025 during Georgian Dream Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze’s visit to the United Arab Emirates. It returned to the spotlight in September, when Georgian Dream founder and honorary chairman Bidzina Ivanishvili received a UAE delegation led by President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
The investment has since faced different lines of criticism from various groups, including questions about the secrecy surrounding the agreement, its financial viability, and its potential environmental and social effects. The project, however, has also fueled a broader nativist backlash among ultra-conservative and anti-immigration groups, which have warned against what they call Georgia’s “Arabization.”
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