Mikheil Saakashvili
Mikheil Nikolozovich Saakashvili is a former president of Georgia, ex-governor of the Odessa region.
Short biography
Mikheil Saakashvili was born in Tbilisi on December 21, 1967.
Saakashvili received his higher education at the Shevchenko National University of Georgia. After that Saakashvili studied and interned at a number of higher educational institutions in the United States.
Saakashvili began his political career in 1995; he was elected several times to the Georgian Parliament, represented his country at PACE, and later served as Minister of Justice.
In 2003, he led the Rose Revolution in Georgia. In the presidential elections held after the revolution, in 2004, he was elected as the new president of Georgia, with almost 100% of the vote.
Saakashvili's presidency in Georgia was marked by global police reform, transition of the Georgian army to NATO standards, and significant economic growth. It was also during this period that Georgia was accused of massive human rights violations, which were associated with political and corrupt arrests, torture of detainees and prisoners.
It was under Mikheil Saakashvili's presidency that the Russian Armed Forces made a military invasion of Georgia, which became known as the "Russian-Georgian War".
In 2013, after two terms in office, Mikheil Saakashvili left Georgia.
Mikheil Saakashvili in Ukraine
Saakashvili actively supported the Revolution of Dignity. After its end, Saakashvili took the post of presidential advisor and headed the international council of reforms under the president of Ukraine.
In 2015, Saakashvili was appointed governor of Odessa Region.
However, at the end of 2016, Saakashvili left the post. Petro Poroshenko signed a decree on his resignation and criticized Saakashvili's work as head of the region, accusing him of failing to reform Odessa region.
As a result, Mikheil Saakashvili went into opposition to the current government, registering his own political party in 2017 under the name "Rukh New Forces.
In late 2017 and early 2018, Saakashvili tried to organize mass protests in Kiev, calling them a "new revolution. However, the ambitious plan failed; the protests did not gain broad public support and eventually died out.
Deprivation of citizenship
In the summer of 2017, by decree of Petro Poroshenko, Mikheil Saakashvili was stripped of his Ukrainian citizenship, thus acquiring the status of "stateless person. Despite this, Saakashvili managed to enter Ukraine by breaking through the border cordon on the Ukrainian-Polish border.
Eventually, in 2018, Saakashvili was detained by border guards in Kiev and deported to Poland.
Saakashvili's return to Ukraine
In 2019, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky signed a decree returning Saakashvili to Ukrainian citizenship. Soon after, Saakashvili arrived in Ukraine.
Appointment to the Cabinet of Ministers.
On April 22, 2020, it was reported that Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky wanted to make Saakashvili deputy prime minister for reforms in the Cabinet of Ministers Denis Shmigal. Later the rumors were confirmed by Saakashvili himself. As expected, Saakashvili's appointment may take place on April 24 during an extraordinary session of the Verkhovna Rada.
Activity on the network
Facebook. Saakashvili's Facebook page has more than a million followers.
Twitter. Saakashvili's Twitter account already has 234,000 followers.
YouTube. Saakashvili's YouTube channel has gathered almost 90,000 subscribers