"We deplore the adoption of the ‘foreign agents law’ by the Georgian parliament," said MEPs David McAllister of the European People's Party (EPP), who is also the Chair of the European Parliament's (EP) Foreign Affairs Committee, Marina Kaljurand of the Socialists and Democrats (S&D), who is the Chair of the EP Delegation for the South Caucasus, and Sven Mikser (S&D), the EP rapporteur for Georgia. In a statement on Wednesday, the MEPs added that they were "disappointed that the ruling majority chose to ignore the concerns raised" by the international community and human rights watchdogs, including the European Union (EU) and the United States. "We urge the Georgian authorities to withdraw the law before it creates further divisions within Georgia and further undermines the country’s international standing and European future," they said. The new law requires media outlets, non-governmental organisations and other non-profit entities to register as advocates for "the interests of a foreign power" if they receive more than 20% of their funding from abroad. The text is nearly identical to one that the ruling Georgian Dream party was forced to withdraw last year after similar protests to those seen in Tbilisi in recent days. On Tuesday, the new version of the bill was passed in its third and final reading in parliament. The ruling party says the law is needed to counter what it sees as harmful foreign influence in Georgian politics and to prevent unidentified external actors from trying to destabilise the country. However, the opposition and thousands of protesters who have taken to the streets of the capital say it is a "Russian law", alleging that Moscow uses similar legislation to stigmatise independent media and organisations critical of the Kremlin. The law will now go to Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili, a pro-Western figure who has increasingly been at odds with the ruling party and has pledged to veto it, although Georgian Dream has enough votes to override her. Following the adoption, and amid protests that drew thousands to the streets of Tbilisi, the Georgian opposition called for international sanctions against the lawmakers who voted in favour of the controversial legislation. "We demand that the international community impose sanctions against the 84 MPs who voted for this law," Levan Bezhashvili, an MP and chairman of the political council of the United National Movement, the country’s largest opposition group, told reporters on Tuesday. He said that with the adoption of the law, the ruling Georgian Dream party had "practically handed Georgia over to Russia, established a Russian regime in the country and declared war on its own people." Read Also: NATO warns that Georgia’s law distances country from Euro-Atlantic integration (in Portuguese)