Former Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili has pledged to return to Ukraine early next month, despite a warning from Ukrainian border guards that he could be barred and a new deportation request from his homeland.
Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko revoked Mr Saakashvili's citizenship last month, due to alleged irregularities on the application form he completed in 2015, when he came to Ukraine to help its western-backed reform drive.
Mr Saakashvili says Mr Poroshenko’s move was illegal and a sign that he is becoming increasingly authoritarian in his bid to sideline critics and possible rivals ahead of presidential and parliamentary elections due in 2019.
After leading Georgia's 2003 Rose Revolution, Mr Saakashvili ran the country for almost a decade before rivals took over and accused him of abuse of power. He served as governor of Ukraine's Odessa region in 2015-16 before resigning over what he called top national officials' opposition to real reforms and anti-corruption efforts.
‘Human corridor’
Mr Saakashvili is now in Poland, from where he has vowed to cross back into Ukraine on September 10th.
“I am counting on a ‘human corridor’ of Ukrainians. Last time [the authorities] thought that I was coming, they doubled the number of border guards,” he said during a broadcast on Facebook this week.
“There will be lots of journalists with us, deputies and ordinary people. Ukrainians living in Poland want to accompany me, there are lots of them...I would be very grateful if people came to the border,” he added.
While there is sympathy for Mr Saakashvili in Ukraine – where many people believe the ruling elite is increasing pressure on critics and failing to fulfil its reform pledges – polls suggest he would not be a major challenger at the ballot box.
Extradition request
Commenting on Mr Saakashvili's plans, Oleg Slobodyan, a spokesman for Ukraine's border guards, said anyone with an invalid passport would not be allowed into the country.
Georgian media reported on Friday that the country's prosecutors had sent Ukraine another request for Mr Saakashvili's extradition to face several charges. Kiev rejected such requests as politically motivated.
Mr Saakashvili's spokeswoman, Darya Chizh, said on Friday that he still plans to return to Ukraine.
“Saakashvili has only one passport – a Ukrainian passport,” she told the Ukrainska Pravda news outlet.
Lawyers say it may be illegal for Mr Poroshenko to strip Mr Saakashvili of his only citizenship and make him a stateless person.
