Despite the political crisis, the ongoing protests of thousands of people and international condemnations, the Prime Minister of Georgia Irakli Kobakhitze vowed today to push through the controversial “foreign agents” bill, even warning protesters of prosecution.

Kombahicze said in a televised press conference that the ruling party Georgian Dream will secure passage of the bill in third reading next week and has even threatened the protesters with prosecution if they resort to violent incidents.

The opposition has called on opponents of the bill to stage an overnight protest outside parliament today to prevent MPs from entering the Parliament on Mondaywhen they are about to start the debate on the third reading of the bill.

The government threatened to arrest any protestors who attempted to block access to parliament. “I would like to warn all members of the radical opposition groups that they will need to account for their acts of violence before the courts,” the prime minister warned.

His country Caucasian has been facing anti-government protests since early April after the ruling party reintroduced the bill seen as an obstacle to Georgia’s ambitions to join the EU.

The bill, which stipulates that organizations that receive more than 20% of their funding from abroad will be labeled as foreign agents, has led to massive protests in the country by protesters who see it as authoritarian and Russian-inspired. The EU and Western countries have also condemned the bill with Brussels warning that its passage could jeopardize Georgia’s bid to join the EU.

For its part, the government argues that this measure is intended to force organizations to demonstrate greater “transparency” regarding their funding.

The bill still needs to be approved in third reading – due next week – and the president Salome Zourabisvili, which is in conflict with the ruling party, is expected to veto it. The Georgian Dream, however, has enough votes to pass it.

The disagreement over the bill is seen as key to whether Georgia, which has traditionally had warm relations with the West, continues its push to join the European Union and NATO or instead builds ties with Russia.

The founder of the Georgian Dream, the billionaire former prime minister Bidzina Ivanishvilisaid last month that the “foreign agents” law is necessary to assert Georgian sovereignty against Western powers that he said want to drag the country into conflict with Russia.

On Saturday night, a crowd of protesters in the rain staged the largest protest to date. According to a Reuters estimate, the number of protesters reached around 50,000 people.

Some Georgian media and activists estimated the number of protesters in the hundreds of thousands. The ruling party said 18,000 took part in the demonstration.