Ex-Georgian leader forces way into Ukraine to reclaim citizenship

Former Georgian leader Mikheil Saakashvili has forced his way into his adoptive country, Ukraine, in an attempt to reclaim his citizenship, which was revoked by his one-time ally President Petro Poroshenko in July amid a political dispute.

On Sunday, Saakashvili — escorted by hundreds of his supporters — breached the Ukrainian border, pushing aside the guards and making his way into the country from Poland’s Medyka border crossing.

Saakashvili served as Georgian president from 2004 to 2013, but he lost the citizenship of his native country after he was granted a Ukrainian passport in 2015. Under Georgia’s law, individuals are not allowed to hold dual nationality.

Poroshenko later appointed Saakashvili as a regional governor, but the pro-reform politician stepped down in November 2016 after accusing the Ukrainian president of blocking efforts to uproot corruption.

Saakashvili, who was stripped of his Ukrainian citizenship by Poroshenko in July, is now a stateless person. He says he is set to take legal action against the Ukrainian president’s move.

Crossing into the country on Sunday, Saakashvili said he was unexpectedly swept over the border by the crowd of his supporters.

“They swept us up and carried us into Ukraine,” he told a pro-opposition TV station.

Ukrainian police said they have opened criminal proceedings into Saakashvili’s illegal border crossing.

Scuffles broke out at the border between the crowd and border guards as they were trying to block his entry. At least 16 border guards and National guardsmen were injured, according to officials.

Saakashvili said the border authorities “provoked and provoked” people. He, however, praised the border guards for not “using violence.”

Earlier in the day, Poland’s authorities held his train at a railway station in the southeastern city of Przemysl as he was denied entry into Ukraine. He then traveled by bus to the border and was stopped again by guards, who sealed off the area.

On the Ukrainian side of the border, he was met by the former Ukrainian prime minister and current opposition leader, Yulia Tymoshenko.

“I came with my Ukrainian passport, I wanted to show my passport and make a statement,” Saakashvili said after crossing. “Instead, the authorities arranged this circus.”

The 49-year-old politician, who was born in Georgia, took power in the country after a pro-Western uprising in 2003. He resigned as the Georgian president in 2013. He is now wanted on criminal charges in his home country.

Saakashvili denies the accusations, branding them a political witch hunt.

Saakashvili has accused the Ukrainian authorities of using pressure tactics to deter him from returning to the capital, Kiev, where he is set to challenge the revoking of his citizenship in court.

In Ukraine, he faces possible possible arrest and deportation to Georgia to face charges.

Tbilisi on Tuesday asked Kiev to extradite Saakashvili to face charges of misappropriation of property and abuse of office among others.

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