Georgia's Rally for Europe

Some 20,000 Georgians staged a "March for Europe", calling on the government to scrap a controversial "foreign influence" bill which the EU had warned would undermine Tbilisi's European aspirations.

There have been mass anti-government protests since mid-April, when the ruling Georgian Dream party reintroduced plans to pass a law critics say resembles Russian legislation used to silence dissent.

Waves of similar street protests -- during which police used tear gas and water cannons against demonstrators -- forced the party to drop a similar measure in 2023.

Police have again clashed with protesters during the latest rallies.

Before staging what organizers called a "March for Europe" -- at least 20,000 people turned out at Tbilisi's central Republic Square.

The kilometer-long procession, which featured a huge EU flag at its head, stretched out along Tbilisi's main thoroughfare towards parliament.

The rally was organized by around 100 Georgian rights groups and opposition parties, which have until now kept a low profile at the youth-dominated daily protests.

"The authorities, which have reintroduced the Russian bill, are going beyond the constitutional framework and changing the country's orientation, betraying the unwavering will of the people," the organizers said in a statement.

The interior ministry said in a statement that "the protest turned violent" and that "demonstrators physically and verbally confronted law enforcement."

Past midnight, hundreds of riot police were deployed in the area.

To counter days of anti-government protests, Georgia's ruling party announced its own rally, when a parliamentary committee is set to hold a second reading of the bill.

If adopted, the law would require any independent NGO and media organization receiving more than 20 percent of its funding from abroad to register as an "organization pursuing the interests of a foreign power".