Some 30,000 Georgians took to the streets Wednesday in the latest round of a weeks-long mass protest against a "foreign influence" law whose adoption by parliament has prompted a blizzard of international condemnation.
Ruling Georgian Dream party lawmakers voted through the legislation Tuesday in defiance of protesters, who are worried the ex-Soviet republic is shifting away from a pro-Western course back toward Russia.
The move has sparked a wave of protests unprecedented in the recent history of the Caucasus Black Sea nation, where according to opinion polls more than 80 percent of the population wants to join the European Union and NATO, and is staunchly anti-Kremlin.
On Wednesday evening, some 30,000 demonstrators gathered outside Georgian parliament, according to an AFP reporter on the scene.
Visiting foreign ministers of Estonia, Iceland, and Lithuania joined the march towards the protest venue, before addressing the crowd in a show of solidarity with demonstrators.
"We are here supporting Georgian people's aspirations to be part of the European Union and NATO," Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis told AFP.
"We are standing with........