Pro-European protesters outside Georgia’s parliament have called for a proposed law to be quashed

Police used water cannons and teargas to disperse thousands of protesters in Tbilisi.

People began rallying on Tuesday after the country’s parliament approved a draft law on foreign agents.

Protesters have criticised the Bill as a shift towards authoritarianism.

The former Soviet state is seeking to make organisations, who receive more than 20 per cent of their funding from overseas, to register as a foreign agent.

If they do not, they could face a string of heavy fines.

The law would be similar to a 2012 ruling in Russia, which has since been the key to cracking down on dissent.

Addressing her country from New York, Georgia’s President Salome Zourabichvili said she will veto the law if it lands on her desk, though parliament can still override her decision.

“You represent a free Georgia, a Georgia which sees its future in the west, and won’t let anyone to take this future away,” she said.

Ms Zourabichvili said lawmakers who had voted for the law were violating the nation’s constitution.

“Nobody needs this law… everyone who has voted for this law has violated the constitution,” she said.

However, Georgia’s Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili has sided with protesters. He described the proposed law as meeting “European and global standards”.