Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili has said that a “foreign influence” Bill passed by parliament that critics have called a threat to free speech is “unacceptable”.

In an interview with the Associated Press, Ms Zourabichvili criticised the ruling Georgian Dream party for pushing the Bill, which is widely seen as a threat to Georgia’s aspirations to join the European Union.

“It’s unacceptable because it reflects a turn of the Georgian attitudes towards the civil society, towards the media and towards the recommendations of the European Commission that are not consistent with what is our declared policy of going towards a European integration,” she told AP.

Huge crowds of protesters have blocked streets in Georgia capital Tbilisi and milled angrily outside the parliament building after lawmakers on Tuesday approved the legislation despite strong criticism from the USand the EU.

Ms Zourabichvili, who is increasingly at odds with the governing party, has vowed to veto the Bill but Georgian Dream has a majority sufficient to override it.