Skip to main content
  • Share to or

Former Georgian president Mikhail Saakashvili appointed governor of Odessa region in Ukraine

Source: Meduza

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has appointed former Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili as governor of Odessa region, an area in the south of Ukraine. Saakashvili was granted citizenship of Ukraine in order assume office.

One month ago, Saakashvili refused an invitation by Ukrainian officials to take up the post of Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine. He said that he is not ready to renounce his Georgian citizenship, which would have been a prerequisite for the appointment in Ukraine. “In Georgia, we are not yet finished with our stages of development and creation – there is still a lot left to do,” he said.

Mikhail Saakashvili served at Georgia’s president for two consecutive terms, from 2004 to 2013. He became president in 2004 after leading the “Rose Revolution,” a power change in Georgia following mass protests against unfair elections and widespread corruption. Saakashvili was regarded as a pro-NATO and pro-Western politician and carried out radical economic and political reforms. After losing the 2012 election, he departed to the USA and became a lecturer at Tufts University while living in New York City. He is currently wanted in Georgia on charges of abusing power, but Ukraine refuses to extradite him.

Saakashvili’s appointment has already garnered antagonistic responses in Russia. Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev commented in a tweet that “the circus continues,” adding “Poor Ukraine…” Alexei Puskov, Russian journalist and head of the Russian Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Affairs, said that “Saakashvili has forgotten his promises to come back to Tbilisi and lead Georgia. The only thing he can lead in Georgia is a list of convicts.”

Kontantin Dolgov, Special Representative of Russia’s Foreign Affairs Ministry, expressed dismay at the idea that “Saakashvili, who is charged with multiple crimes against the Georgian people, has been appointed governor of Odessa, where neo-Nazis burned people alive and went unpunished. Deep symbolism for ‘Kiev-style democracy,’ which is still looked upon favorably and sheepishly by the West!”

Georgian President Georgy Margvelashvili has said: “I do not understand his unseemly behavior. By making this decision, Saakashvili has insulted our state and the institution of the presidency. Values should be more important than one’s career, and one’s citizenship is one of those values.”

Former Odessa governor Igor Palytsia said he is happy about the appointment and hopes Saakashvili will bring in investment from Kiev. But not everyone in Ukraine is thrilled: Ukrainian parliament member and leader of the Radial Party Oleg Lyashko said sardonically: “Out of all the 45 million people of Ukraine not one citizen was worthy to become the head of the Odessa administration… Maybe we should also enlist a president from abroad?”

Saakashvili assumes the post of governor at a tumultuous time for Ukraine. Odessa region lies on the Black sea not far from Crimea, the Ukrainian peninsula that became a part of Russia in 2014. Odessa has remained calmer than the eastern regions of Ukraine, where armed conflict rages between pro-Russian separatists and the Ukrainian army. Yet Odessa is also divided along political lines, with a large Russian-speaking population leaning towards Moscow. In 2014, clashes between pro-Russian activists and pro-Western protestors ended in a fire which killed over 40 people (mostly pro-Russia demonstrators) and injured 200. Saakashvili is replacing Igor Palytsia, former Odessa region governor who took office last year following this tragedy.

Under Saakashvili, Georgia was also involved in a short conflict with Russia in 2008. As a result of the conflict, Georgia lost control of its two Russia-backed separatist territories, South Ossetia and Abkhazia. These regions have claimed independence, yet Georgian officials maintain they are sovereign territories of the Georgian state under Russian occupation.

  • Share to or