Yahoo TV

STORY: Lawmakers applauded after Georgia’s parliament voted on Tuesday to override a presidential veto on a “foreign agents” bill that has plunged the country into crisis.

Earlier, while expressing his opposition to the measure, a member of parliament was hit in the face with water thrown by a representative on the other side of the debate.

The bill would require organizations receiving more than 20% of their funding from overseas to register as "agents of foreign influence," while also introducing punitive fines for violations, as well as onerous disclosure requirements.

Western nations have called the law "Russian-inspired," and it has come to be seen as a key test of whether Georgia, for three decades among the most pro-Western of the Soviet Union's successor states, would maintain its Western orientation, or pivot instead to Moscow.

The U.S. condemned the vote while the EU said it was considering all its options.

Protestors outside parliament like Eka Giguari expressed outrage about the result.

“We know where they take our country. It's not about the law anymore. It's about their decision to distance Georgia from the West, from the EU, from the NATO, and take Georgia to the direction of Russia and make Georgia the ally of Russia. So this is what is happening now. And we are ready to fight."

Large numbers of riot police were deployed around the parliament building, where they have used teargas, pepper spray and water cannon against protesters in recent weeks.

The Georgian government, which says it still wants to join the EU, has accused Western countries of blackmail over their opposition to the bill.

Russia denies any role in backing the bill, which it has defended from Western criticism.