Split from United National Movement in 2017 European Georgia dates its history to 1999 when it was first registered as a political party. Soon after the election, UNM experienced a massive schism with 21 out of 27 elected MPs opting to leave the party after an internal conflict related to disagreements over ex-
President Mikheil Saakashvili leadership. Saakashvili, questioning the legitimacy of the election, had rejected the party's decision to enter the parliament and called for not participating in the runoffs. Another cause of the rift has been Saakashvili's opposition to appoint a new chairman in his place. The group highlighted UNM's inability to deal with its controversial past and rebuild its image. Saakashvili subsequently accused the group of carrying out the agenda of
Bidzina Ivanishvili, the de-facto leader of
Georgian Dream. Among the MPs who left UNM were
Davit Bakradze, the leader of the parliamentary minority and UNM's candidate for the
2013 presidential election,
Gigi Ugulava, former mayor of
Tbilisi, and
Giga Bokeria, Secretary of the National Security Council. On 30 January 2017, during a party presentation, Ugulava was named interim secretary general, until a party conference could be held. On 27 May, Bakradze was elected the chairman of the party with Ugulava becoming secretary-general. In the
2017 local elections, European Georgia managed to become the third largest party in the country garnering 10.4% of the nationwide vote and winning 116 council seats. In the
Tbilisi mayoral election Elene Khoshtaria, the party's candidate in the race, finished in the fourth place getting 7.11% of the vote. In the
2018 presidential election, the party nominated Bakradze as its nominee, who finished in the third place with 10.97% of the vote. He subsequently supported
Grigol Vashadze in the runoff.
2020 parliamentary election In the
2020 parliamentary election European Georgia finished third and received 3.79% of the vote securing 5 seats. European Georgia joined all other political parties in refusing to recognize the electoral results after allegations of voter fraud surfaced, boycotting majoritarian runoffs and entering the parliament. , the chairman of European Georgia from 2021 to 2024 In the aftermath of the election, European Georgia started experiencing a major schism. First to leave was Khoshtaria who went on to establish her own party
Droa. Next key members to leave were Bakradze and Ugulava who cited the failure of the party leadership for the disappointing election results. Bokeria was subsequently elected the chairman of the party. The party backed negotiations with Georgian Dream facilitated by the
Western countries. On March 1, 2021,
President of the European Council Charles Michel launched new negotiations between Georgian Dream and the opposition to put an end to the political crisis. The sides reached an agreement on April 19, however, European Georgia itself was divided over the issue. The party decided not to sign the deal, which caused Tariel Nakaidze to quit European Georgia and enter the parliament as an independent MP. Due to major defections, European Georgia lost significant support in the
2021 local elections. The party's nationwide vote share fell to 1.66%, losing 90% of its councillors.
2024 parliamentary election , the current leader of European Georgia European Georgia supported the
protests held in 2023 against the introduction of the 'Foreign Agent Law' and once again in 2024 after its reintroduction and adoption. The party subsequently signed the
Georgian Charter initiated by the president
Salome Zourabichvili that sets out goals for a possible future government. For the
2024 parliamentary election, the party at first tried forming a political coalition with
Ahali and
Lelo, however, once those attempts failed, it turned against joining any bloc, which caused controversy in the wider opposition as the risk of the party falling below the 5% threshold and wasting votes was raised. On 1 August 2024, European Georgia experienced its latest split, with Bokeria and his wife
Tamar Chergoleishvili, along with their supporters, leaving the party over disagreements on the way the
party primary was conducted. The majority of the party's electoral list (24 out of 37 members), which was based on the results of the primary, decided to leave the party and follow Bokeria and Chergoleishvili. On August 15, the former members of European Georgia, announced the establishment of a new political party called the "
Federalists". 2 days later the rump
European Georgia party announced it was joining the UNM-led
Unity – National Movement coalition. ==Ideology==