On May 30, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko appointed Mikheil Saakashvili, former president of Georgia, as chairman of the state administration (governor) of Ukraine’s Odesa province. On the preceding day, Poroshenko conferred Ukrainian citizenship to Saakashvili “as a matter of national interest of Ukraine.” The cabinet of ministers under Arseniy Yatsenyuk endorsed Saakashvili’s appointment (President.gov.ua, May 29, 30).
Saakashvili thereby joins the phalanx of Georgian officials and experts currently working for the Ukrainian government. They had earlier served during the Saakashvili administration (2004–2012), when Georgia was recognized as the most successfully reforming country in Europe’s East, until the regime reversal in that …read more
Source: The Jamestown Foundation