Mikheil Saakachvili, who was the President of Georgia from 2004 to 2013, has renounced his Georgian and United States citizenships and adopted Ukranian nationality. He was immediately named Governor of Odessa by President Petro Porochenko.

Ex-Minister of Justice under President Chevardnadze, he resigned in 2001, was elected President of the Chamber in 2002, and then President of the Republic thanks to the « Rose Revolution ».

Trained in the United States, he came to power thanks to an uprising orchestrated by the CIA, and as soon as he was elected, he launched a purge against the ex-collaborators of President Chevardnadze, aligned himself with the United States and Israël, and supported all anti-Russian activity.

In 2008, when his Minister for Defence was an Israëli and his Territorial Minister was English, he rented two military airports to Israël so that Tel-Aviv could easily bomb Teheran, then attacked South Ossetia during the Olympic Games. Russia riposted by bombing the two military airports, then freed South Ossetia and recognised the new state.

Elected for his anti-corruption programme, he left after a succession of scandals.

The nomination of Mikheil Saakachvili as governor of Odessa should be understood as a threat against Russia. Odessa is the frontier port which enables Transnistria (a non-recognised pro-Russian state) to function. It is therefore capable of blocking its economy.

Mikheil Saakchvili had been preceded by his ex-Minister of the Interior, Ekaterin Zgouladze, who had also renounced her Georgian citizenship in order to become the Vice-Minister of the Interior for Ukraine, on the 14 th December 2014. Mme. Zgouladze’s husband, Raphaël Glucksmann (son of the essayist and US agent, André Glucksmann), is an advisor to Mr. Saakachvili.

Translation
Pete Kimberley