Georgians Continue Anti-Government Protests

Georgians continued anti-government protests on Friday.

Hundreds of protesters rallied outside Georgia's parliament as lawmakers formally withdrew the proposed law of "foreign agent" legislation.

Georgian lawmakers voted down the bill in the second reading on Friday after just one MP out of 36 backed the bill.

One of the demonstrators, Irina Shurgaia said: "This is a victory. We won thanks to our unity.

"The whole world saw that Georgians are united in their resolve to be part of the European family."

The protests come as Georgia aims to join the European Union (EU) and NATO.

The European Union, United States and France on Friday also welcomed the Georgian government's dropping of the bill.

The bloc called on Georgia to implement reforms the EU has put forward as a condition to granting the nation a membership candidate status.

Georgia applied for EU membership together with Ukraine and Moldova last year.

In June, the EU granted formal candidate status to Ukraine and Moldova and said Georgia must implement reforms first.