FILE - In this Tuesday, Feb. 13, 2018 file photo, Mikheil Saakashvili, former Georgian president-turned-Ukrainian opposition leader, speaks to reporters in Warsaw, Poland. Mikheil Saakashvili, the former president of Georgia, has been given his Ukrainian citizenship back by the country’s new president. Volodymyr Zelenskiy, the comedian who last week took power in Ukraine following his convincing election victory, signed a decree on Tuesday, May 28, 2019 that gave back Saakashvili his Ukrainian citizenship. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski, file)

Former Georgian president gets Ukrainian citizenship back

By The Associated Press May 28, 2019 at 7:09am

MOSCOW (AP) — Mikheil Saakashvili, the former president of Georgia, has been given his Ukrainian citizenship back by the country’s new president.

Volodymyr Zelenskiy, the comedian who last week took power in Ukraine following his convincing election victory, signed a decree on Tuesday that gave back Saakashvili his Ukrainian citizenship. He had been stripped of it in 2017 by Zelenskiy’s predecessor Petro Poroshenko.

Saakashvili had publicly supported Zelenskiy’s presidential bid and expressed hope that he would be allowed back once Zelenskiy assumes office.

“Thank you President Zelenskiy! Glory to Ukraine!” the former Georgian president wrote on his Facebook page shortly after the decree was published.

Saakashvili said in an interview with the Georgian TV station Rustavi 2 that he will fly to the Ukrainian capital Kiev on Wednesday — for the first time since 2017.

Saakashvili, who was Georgia’s president between 2008 and 2013, got a new political life in Ukraine when Poroshenko appointed him governor of the Odessa region in 2015.

Saakashvili, however, was pushed out of office a year later following a spat with Poroshenko who was unhappy with the pace of reforms in the Black Sea port city of Odessa under his leadership.

Saakashvili, in turn, accused Poroshenko of helping some of Ukraine’s richest men keep their foothold in this notoriously corrupt region.

Following his dismissal in 2016, Saakashvili led anti-government protests and criticized the president for failing to stem corruption.

Several months later he was detained and deported to Poland. Most recently, he has been living in the Netherlands as his wife is Dutch.

The Western Journal has not reviewed this Associated Press story prior to publication. Therefore, it may contain editorial bias or may in some other way not meet our normal editorial standards. It is provided to our readers as a service from The Western Journal.

Submit a Correction →

We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Read our editorial standards.

Tags:

WJ Wire

The Associated Press

SummaryMore Biographical InformationRecent PostsContact

The Associated Press is an independent, not-for-profit news cooperative headquartered in New York City. Their teams in over 100 countries tell the world’s stories, from breaking news to investigative reporting. They provide content and services to help engage audiences worldwide, working with companies of all types, from broadcasters to brands. Photo credit: @AP on Twitter

@AP

Facebook

The Associated Press was the first private sector organization in the U.S. to operate on a national scale. Over the past 170 years, they have been first to inform the world of many of history's most important moments, from the assassination of Abraham Lincoln and the bombing of Pearl Harbor to the fall of the Shah of Iran and the death of Pope John Paul.

Today, they operate in 263 locations in more than 100 countries relaying breaking news, covering war and conflict and producing enterprise reports that tell the world's stories.

Location

New York City