Firebombs, Tear Gas In Tbilisi As 'Foreign Agents' Protest Turns Violent
A protester wearing the Georgian flag walks toward a line of riot police outside the Georgian parliament building on March 7.
Violent protests broke out after legislators gave preliminary backing to a bill that would require organizations operating in Georgia that receive more than 20 percent of their funding from abroad to register as a "foreign agent."
Protesters holding an EU flag are hit with a water cannon during the protest on March 7. The EU's foreign policy chief has called the bill a "very bad development" for the Caucasus country.
Police are hit by a firebomb during the protest. AFP reported seeing at least three Molotov cocktails thrown at police.
A wall of police faces protesters on a street that leads to the rear entrance of Georgia's parliament building (seen on right).
A woman who was affected by tear gas receives aid during the protest.
Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili applauded the protesters while on a visit to the United States. "You represent a free Georgia, a Georgia which sees its future in the West, and won't let anyone to take this future away," she said in a video address.
A protester wears a gas mask at the entrance to the parliament building, on Tbilisi's Shota Rustaveli Avenue, after a steel barrier designed to stop protesters was toppled.
Riot police line up to force protesters away from the parliament.
A fire is extinguished by a water cannon.
A protester wipes his eyes after tear gas was fired at protesters.
A protester is toppled as he is hit by a water cannon on a street that leads to the rear entrance of the parliament.
Protesters, one waving an EU flag, are sprayed by a water cannon.
Water streams down the steps of parliament.
Video from the protests showed police inside the the building spraying protesters with water mixed with tear gas as the crowd attempted to storm the legislature.
Georgian police and vehicles are seen alongside the parliament.
The protests are reportedly set to continue on March 8.