The appointment of former Georgian president and former head of the Odesa regional administration Mikheil Saakashvili to the post of deputy prime minister could negatively affect relations between Kyiv and Tbilisi, stated Georgian Ambassador to Ukraine Teimuraz Sharashenidze in the commentary to Interfax-Ukraine.
According to him, Saakashvili’s appointment to the Ukrainian Cabinet is likely to be perceived by the Georgian authorities as an unfriendly and unacceptable step, as he is “wanted by Georgian justice.”
“At one time there was an appeal to the Ukrainian side about the detention and transfer of Mikheil Saakashvili to Georgia, and the materials of the criminal cases were handed over… In addition, it should be recalled that this man has repeatedly called for the overthrow of the legitimately elected government of Georgia by force,” Sharashenidze said.
The Ambassador recalled that Georgia and Ukraine have repeatedly provided assistance and support to each other, and at present the of cooperation between the two states is very high.
“We work closely within the framework of GUAM Organization for Democracy and Economic Development, on European and Euro-Atlantic integration, within the framework of the Eastern Partnership initiative, within international organizations. Mutual assistance and efforts in the conflict with Russia and de-occupation should be emphasized in particular. In Georgia, Ukraine is considered one of the friendly countries, and the Ukrainian people – the closest,” the ambassador said.
Sharashenidze added that the Ukrainian side was informed about Georgia’s attitude towards Saakashvili. The ambassador expressed hope that Kyiv will take into account “the history of past crimes of the Georgian ex-president”.
Earlier, Saakashvili said that President Volodymyr Zelensky offered him the position of deputy prime minister for reforms.
Today, April 24, Saakashvili said that President Zelensky asked him to take part in negotiations with the IMF.
(C)UAWIRE 2020
Unfortunately that is more proof of putlerstani penetration of Georgia’s govt. Putler’s man Ivanishvili may well be behind it.
Why does he have to be a deputy Prime Minister to speak with the IMF? Couldn’t he just be a special envoy or something? Something is wrong here.
He is a wise choice. The IMF have had good dealings with him in the past. Despite the no doubt Russian-inspired protestations, he has integrity. He achieved wonderful things for Georgia; far better than any other post SU vassal. (Excluding Pribaltika, which got the dual EU/Nato lifeline).
I would have preferred him to work the corruption brief and was hoping he could bring back the excellent Eka Zgladze. But maybe that could come later.
If he can stay the course I’d like to see him promoted to PM.
A valuable yardstick: the more putler hates you, the greater a person you are.
Yes but that yardstick has two ends. How do you go from being the president of Georgia to a patriotic Ukrainian? I fear the answer may involve desperation, narcissism or worse yet; politics.
Redders, Saakash is much more than that. He is an exceptional person. He speaks native standard Ukrainian, served in the Ukrainian soviet socialist army and graduated from Kyiv university, where he became close friends with Poro. He is as patriotic to Ukraine as he is to Georgia. As a student he participated in the ‘revolution in granite’ at Taras Shevchenko university. In Georgia he inspired the Rose Revolution almost single handedly and brought a new golden age to Georgia that was shattered in 2008 by putler.
This is why putler jackboot lickers like Peter Hitchens try so hard to discredit him. He made Georgians happy and proud to be Georgian.
Any democratic government should feel privileged to have him.
Well thank you Sir Scradge, I always learn from you….but…my skepticism continues. Not so much with Saavashvili but the circumstances of his return. Zelensky has been complaining about the workload as president of Ukraine and I’ve heard his wife complaining that he works too much. Considering who he’s surrounded himself with could be the result of outsourcing Saakashvili as some sort of political mercenary.
I don’t know what the outcome will be, but I have high hopes. At last something that Zel has done that I can approve of!
I agree with you, Red. Why must he be an MP to hold talks with the IMF?
I do not understand the need for him to have such a prominent role, he could have assisted in the negotiations with the IMF without being a part of the government.