Saakashvili Hails Ukrainian Supreme Court’s Ruling

Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili said that the ruling of the Ukrainian Supreme Court to invalidate second round of the presidential polls is a “historic.”

Ukraine’s Supreme Court annulled on December 3 the second round of the presidential election in Ukraine and ruled a new runoff vote scheduled for December 26, as demanded by the opposition leader Victor Yushchenko.

“This is a historic day; a historic day not only for Ukraine, but for entire region, and first of all for Georgia. The process of democratization in the region which was launched by the Georgia’s Rose Revolution, inspired the Ukrainian people,” President Saakashvili said few hours after the Ukrainian Supreme Court announced its decision.

“A new international reality emerges for Georgia. This [the Supreme Court’s ruling] is a huge victory for the Ukrainian people; however the final victory will be victory in [repeat] elections. The Ukrainian people are not foreigners for me. I have spent best years in Ukraine,” President said Saakashvili, who graduated the Faculty of International Law at the Kiev State University in 1992.

He also stressed that he tried to refrain from making comments regarding the developments in Ukraine, “because I am a citizen of a foreign country.”

“I tired not to demonstrate my sympathies, but maybe someone has noticed the color of my tie,” Saakashvili said, referring to his tie dominated by the orange color, which is the symbol of the Ukrainian opposition.

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