"We urge the Georgian government to continue on the path of European integration" and to act in a way that is consistent with that, State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel told reporters.

The US diplomat called the legislation "inconsistent with those stated goals".

Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili said Tuesday that parliament will adopt a law on "foreign influence" despite demonstrations against a bill that critics say would take the country further from Europe and closer to Moscow.

"Faced with unjustified ultimatums and the loss of sovereignty, Georgia will share the fate of Ukraine. No one outside Georgia can prevent us from protecting our national interests," he said, raising the specter of a war like the one currently raging between Kyiv and Moscow.

The premier also said that the adoption of this law would pave the way for other texts on "uncontrolled immigration" or the rights of LGBT+ people in a country that remains conservative.

Around a thousand demonstrators, mostly young people, remained outside the Georgian parliament early Tuesday evening to protest the bill, which has been strongly criticized by the United States and the EU, of which Georgia, a former Soviet republic, is a candidate member.

The bill has sparked large opposition demonstrations, some of which have been met with a crackdown.

Protesters, who have been demonstrating since early April, have dubbed it the "Russian law" because it mirrors legislation used by the Kremlin to stifle dissent.

Tens of thousands of people demonstrated on Sunday and some stayed overnight to block lawmakers from entering parliament.

At dawn, police violently arrested a group of demonstrators, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.

The protests have been taking place in a tense atmosphere, with the authorities warning that they will arrest anyone blocking parliament.

The EU, which granted Georgia official candidate status in December 2023, has hailed Georgians' "impressive commitment" to European integration and urged Tbilisi to investigate reports of violence against protesters.

If passed, the law would require any non-governmental organization (NGO) or media outlet that receives more than 20 percent of its funding from abroad to register as an "organization pursuing the interests of a foreign power."

The government says the measure is meant to make organizations more "transparent" about their funding.

The bill has already been approved in two readings, with a third vote still needed.

President Salome Zurabishvili, a pro-Western figure who has been openly at odds with the government, is expected to veto the law, but the ruling Georgian Dream party insists it has enough votes to override her.

The party had already tried to pass the law in 2023 but backed down in the face of mass opposition demonstrations.

Billionaire businessman Bidzina Ivanishvili, considered Georgia's shadow leader, sees NGOs as a domestic enemy in the service of foreign powers.

Ivanishvili, who was prime minister from 2012 to 2013 and is now honorary chairman of Georgian Dream, is suspected of having close ties to Russia, where he made his fortune.

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