Georgia Opposes Saakashvili's Appointment to Any Position in Ukraine - Lawmaker

TBILISI (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 29th April, 2020) The possible appointment of Mikheil Saakashvili, a former president of Georgia, to any official position in Ukraine would be considered as an "unfriendly move" by Tbilisi, Irakli Kobakhidze, a lawmaker from the ruling Georgian Dream party, has said.

Earlier in April, Saakashvili confirmed that he had been offered the office of deputy prime minister for reforms by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The Ukrainian parliament is set to vote on his appointment, nonetheless, not many lawmakers are supporting ex-Georgian president's candidacy.

"We expressed our position in connection with the possible appointment of Saakashvili, this issue was considered with our colleagues and friends from the Ukrainian leadership ... Ukrainian parliament's speaker [Dmytro Razumkov], for example, said that he is against Saakashvili's appointment .

.. However, the appointment of Saakashvili to any civilian position is unacceptable to us. This will be seen as an unfriendly move and we hope that things will not get to that," Kabakhidze said on Tuesday in an interview with the Rustavi 2 broadcaster.

Saakashvili's potential appointment was earlier criticized by Parliament Speaker Archil Talakvadze and Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia.

In 2013, Saakashvili left Georgia, where he is facing several criminal charges. In 2015, he was given Ukrainian citizenship and made the governor of the Odessa region by then-President Petro Poroshenko, only to be fired in 2016 and have his citizenship revoked in 2017. On May 28, 2019, Zelenskyy reinstated Saakashvili's Ukrainian citizenship, prompting his return to the country the next day.