Georgian March ქართული მარში
A historical flag of Kingdom of Georgia used by the party as its logo
Leader	Sandro Bregadze
Secretary-General	Irakli Shikhiashvili
Founded	2 July 2020
Headquarters	Tbilisi
Membership	2,000–5,500
Ideology	National conservatism[1] Ethnonationalism[2] Neutralism[3] Hard Euroscepticism[2][4]
Political position	Far-right[9]
Religion	Georgian Orthodox Church
Colors	Black and   Red
Slogan	Fight for the Georgian identity and for Georgia
Seats in Parliament	0 / 150
Politics of Georgia Political parties Elections

Georgian March (Georgian: ქართული მარში, romanized: kartuli marshi, GM) is a far-right political party and social movement in Georgia. It was founded as an NGO in 2017 following the protests of the same name and transformed into a political party in 2020 ahead of the parliamentary election in the same year.^[10] The party is led by Sandro Bregadze.^[5]

Georgian March is primarily known for its rallies which have been described as violent and aggressive.^[2][8][11] It's protests mainly center around opposition to LGBT rights and immigration as well as defending traditional Christian values.^[2][12][13] The group has been described as racist, xenophobic, Islamophobic, and homophobic and has been accused of hate speech and sparking ethnic tensions in the country.^{[1][2][6][11]}

Georgian March was founded in April 2017 as a public movement.^[1] The movement was formed as a response to the highly publicized child abuse case by an Iranian citizen. It started as an informal union of several organizations, that have been labeled neo-Nazi.^[11]

On July 16, 2017, Georgian March gained attention for making rape threats towards Tatia Dolidze, former Georgian Youth Delegate to the United Nations. The comments came after Dolidze criticized the movement.^[11][14]

It was transformed into a political party on 2 July 2020, led by billionaire Sandro Bregadze, who had previously served in the government of the ruling Georgian Dream Party as Deputy Minister of Diaspora Issues from 2014-2016.^[6] Irakli Shikhiashvili, former Head of the State Veterans Office and former Chairman of the Tbilisi City Assembly (2013-2014), was subsequently elected Political Secretary of the party. Giorgi Gigauri, a journalist of the Asaval-Dasavali newspaper, which is known for its homophobic and xenophobic discourse, was appointed Deputy Chairman of the party.^[1]

Georgian March took part in the 2020 parliamentary election and was endorsed by Asaval-Dasavali, one of the largest printed periodicals in Georgia.^[8] It received 0.25% of the vote and failed to cross the 1% barrier to be granted representation in the parliament. The party declared the results illegitimate and organized a protest outside the Georgian Dream office, which was reelected to its third term.^[6] The party subsequently did not run in 2021 local elections.^[1]

Analysts view Georgian March as a radical far-right populist and ethno-nationalist movement.^[1][2][6][8] Other labels used to describe the group are extreme-right, radical or ultra-conservative, ultra-nationalist, national conservative, traditionalist, nativist, and anti-liberal.^[1][2][6][8] The party is further labeled as fascist or neo-Nazi, however, some analysts disagree with the latter categorization.^[6][11] The group’s social views are widely seen as homophobic, xenophobic, Islamophobic, and racist.^{[1][2][6][11]} In addition, party’s foreign policy is viewed as being anti-Western and "loyal to Russia".^[1][2][6] The movements stance on the European Union has been described as hard Euroscepticism.^[2][4]

Georgian March considers the restoration of "the traditional Georgian values" in the face of encroaching liberal ideals an urgent issue. The party has portrayed itself as a protector of the Georgian Orthodox Church and has frequently referred to Muslims as the enemies of the country's Christian identity. Georgian March and the Georgian Orthodox Church frequently collaborate for the reason of spreading homophobic and xenophobic statements. The party rails against "perversion" and "degradation" whose two main causes are immigration and the LGBT community. Additionally, the movement is known for using derogatory homophobic titles on their political opponents including "gay revolutionaries", "LGBT coalition", and "Liberast" (a combination of 'liberal' and 'pederast').^[2][6]

The central goal of Georgian March is the creation of an ethnically homogeneous state.^[1] The party is known to fearmonger over the notion of Georgians becoming an ethnic minority in their own state positioning themselves as saviors of the Georgian ethnicity.^[2] Its nativist rhetoric is highlighted by their in goal to protect "the interests of native-born inhabitants of a state against immigrants”.^[6] The movement has called for the deportation of illegal immigrants from the country.^[11]

Georgian March is regularly described as anti-Western.^[1][2][6] The party is against both Georgia's European Union and NATO aspirations and considers it the biggest threat to the country's Christian values and ethnic homogeneity. It does believe in the superiority of European civilization, but that the political liberalism and politics of equality implemented by the EU go against the traditional values of the said civilization.^[2] The party accuses the West of “imposing” liberal values and legislation upon Georgia, such as laws against discrimination and family violence.^[6]

Additionally, the party is frequently categorized as pro-Russian and reports such as by Estonian Security Services find financial connections between the movement and Russia.^[2][6] The group distances itself from the label and insists that they see ideological partners not in Russia, but with Marine Le Pen’s National Rally, the Freedom Party of Austria, and with leaders like Matteo Salvini, Trump, and Orban.^[2][8]

Georgian March is known for its aggressive and violent rallies.^[2][8][11] Their rallies are commonly built around hate speech, homophobia, xenophobia, and racism particularly directed toward the Turkish and Azerbaijani people.^[1][6][11] Georgian March was formed as a movement in 2017 following a media report alleging sexual assault against a Georgian girl by an Iranian citizen. It organized rallies in response which have been widely described as xenophobic.^[6][2]

Since then, the movement has organized further xenophobic protests. A protest was held in 2018 in front of the Justice House building where the protestors blocked the entrance opposing ownership of land by foreign citizens.^[2] In 2018, the members of the “Georgian March” announced the creation of the "citizen patrol". The purpose of the patrol was to identify breaches of law by foreigners in predefined locations.^[11] The movement has also organized numerous protests targeted at Azerbaijanis. The first protest in March 2020 saw Georgian March and their allies demand the removal of a monument depicting a prominent Azerbaijani Bolshevik Nariman Narimanov in the Azerbaijani-majority town of Marneuli. An additional protest was held on 4 June 2020 at the disputed Georgian-Azerbaijani territory near the David Gareji Monastery complex, with Azerbaijan promising strong repercussions for any border violations. The protests resulted in Bregadze being interviewed by the Georgian Security Service for enflaming "racial discrimination and [the] kindling of ethnic strife".^[6]

Georgian March often protests what they see as the denigration of traditional Georgian values and the Orthodox Church. Georgian March, along with other radical right-wing groups, organized a protest against a journalist Giorgi Gabunia for insulting the sanctity of Jesus Christ. The protests culminated in the demonstrators attacking Gabunia and injuring Rustavi 2 journalist Davit Eradze, which was then followed by the launch of criminal proceedings against the members of the said groups.^[2][15] Further protests were initiated against Tbilisi Pride and the screening of an LGBT film And Then We Danced. The group blocked the entrances to the movie theaters screening the movie with them insulting and scaring off viewers interested in the showing.^[2] 27 demonstrators were detained for the assault of a gay rights activist and the injuries of two policers.^[6] Other demonstrations held by the group include a rally held to protest the football player Guram Kashia wearing an armband supportive of LGBT rights. The movement proceeded to burn the LGBT flag and demanded the expulsion of Kashia from the Georgian football team. Additionally, the group stormed the football match between Georgian and Belarus in Kutaisi in further protest of the matter.^[11]

Georgian March initiated a counter-protest against the "No to Russian Fascism" rally organized by European Georgia. The group physically assaulted the protestors and threw various objects such as eggs, bottles and brooms at them injuring several people. In a different rally, the group threw living chickens at Rustavi 2, protesting Eka Kvesitadze’s show "Different Accents".^[11] Georgian March holds a hatred of the Jewish billionaire philanthropist George Soros and considers him and his institution to be among the main perpetrators of the spread of what they describe as "perversion".^[2][6] The movement has accuses the foundation of financing pride events as well as allocating $220 million for the sabotage the Orthodox Church. The group believes that Soros dreams about "Georgia without Georgians". In a protest held on 30 July 2020 the group burned an effigy of Soros calling for the closing of the foundation.^[6][11]

In addition to spreading George Soros conspiracy theories, organizations affiliated with Georgian March also engaged in perpetrating disinformation during the COVID-19 Pandemic. The groups spread 5G conspiracy theories, linking it to the pandemic and appealed to people attending Easter liturgies to switch off their phones in order to prevent cancer-inducing radiation caused by 5G aerials. The groups have argued that the outbreak is related to Wuhan being one of the first cities in the world to test 5G and that 5G frequencies are to blame for the deaths in the pandemic instead of the virus.^[6]