Volodymyr Zelensky Restores Mikheil Saakashvili’s Ukrainian Citizenship

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky issued a decree on May 28 restoring ex-President Mikheil Saakashvili’s Ukrainian citizenship.

Mikheil Saakashvili released a Facebook post later and thanked the Ukrainian President for restoration of his citizenship.

The citizenship was granted to the former Georgian President by ex-Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko on May 29, 2015, a day before his appointment as the head of the Odessa region in south-western Ukraine.

Saakashvili resigned from the post of the governor in November 2016, after his relations with Poroshenko soured, becoming an opposition leader and creating his own political party – the Movement of New Forces – in early 2017.

He was stripped of his Ukrainian citizenship in July 2017. In February 2018, the Ukrainian government deported Saakashvili to Poland. Ukraine’s border service banned him entry into the country till 2021. 

This post is also available in: ქართული (Georgian) Русский (Russian)