09-10-2017, 09:55 PM
*** 11-Sep-17 World View -- The colorful Mikhail Saakashvili 'invades' Ukraine from Poland and threatens revolution
This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com
****
**** The colorful Mikhail Saakashvili 'invades' Ukraine from Poland and threatens revolution
****
![[Image: g170910b.jpg]](http://Media.GenerationalDynamics.com/ww2010/g170910b.jpg)
Mikhail Saakashvili (L) is joined by Ukraine's former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko ® and other supporters on Sunday after entering Ukraine from Poland (AFP)
Mikhail Saakashvili, the man who is stateless, no longer the citizen
of any country, "invaded" Ukraine from Poland on Sunday, despite
attempts by Ukraine's government to keep him out. Saakashvili is
variously described as colorful, ambitious, arrogant, divisive,
headstrong, and an egomaniac, has had his citizenship revoked in two
countries, Georgia and Ukraine, mainly because he's constantly pissing
people off.
Saakashvili, who has been based in Poland's capital city Warsaw, had
vowed to return to Ukraine on Sunday, and challenge the government or
president Petro Poroshenko:
> [indent]<QUOTE>"I'll go through to the end, until victory. But it
> won't be my own victory, but that of the people over
> oligarchy."<END QUOTE>[/indent]
Poroshenko has declared Saakashvili to be persona non grata in
Ukraine, and said that Saakashvili would be prevented from entering.
So on Sunday morning Saakashvili took a train to Ukraine. But when it
reached the Polish town of Przemysl, the woman in charge of the train
said that she had been ordered by authorities to stop the train there
until Saakashvili got off. Saakashvili told journalists on the train
that authorities were effectively holding hundreds of passengers
hostage. He said: "Can you imagine what kind of idiots we’re dealing
with?"
After several hours of delay, Saakashvili got off the train, and got
onto a bus that took him to the border of Ukraine, intending to walk
across. Polish border guards allowed him pass. But a line of
Ukrainian border guards stood arm-in-arm to block Saakashvili from
crossing the Ukrainian checkpoint.
All of these shenanigans were being covered live in the news, and
thousands of Saakashvili supporters had gathered at the border
crossing. In early evening, Saakashvili and his supporters broke
through the line of border guards, and entered Ukraine.
The Ukrainian border service said in a Facebook post that the crowd
broke through a checkpoint and that fighting broke out when guards
tried to block Saakashvili's supporters. Deutsche Welle and AP and VOA and
Reuters
****
**** Saakashvili to 'march on Kiev' and challenge Poroshenko government
****
Mikhail Saakashvili has had an extremely colorful career.
In 2003, at age 36, Saakashvili became president of the Republic of
Georgia, in the "Rose Revolution,"
massive public demonstrations that brought down
the pro-Russian president Eduard Shevardnadze, and brought Saakashvili
to power.
Saakashvili remained in power until 2013, but in the midst of that
period, he and Georgia suffered a major humiliating loss, when Russian
troops under Vladimir Putin invaded Georgia in 2008, and captured two
Georgian provinces, Abkhazia and South Ossetia, which are still under
Russia's control.
Saakashvili was praised for fighting corruption, he adopted
authoritarian policies that he said were necessary to continue
fighting corruption, but which became increasingly unpopular.
Finally, Saakashvili was removed from the presidency in 2013. In May
2015, Ukraine's president Petro Poroshenko made him a Ukrainian
citizen, which resulted in the loss of his Georgian citizenship.
Saakashvili and Poroshenko had a lot in common. Saakashvili came to
power in the Rose Revolution of 2003. Poroshenko came to power in
2014 in a popular revolution similar to Ukraine's Orange Revolution of
2004. Just as Saakashvili had replaced the pro-Russian president
Eduard Shevardnadze, Poroshenko replaced the pro-Russian president
Viktor Yanukovych.
One more thing they had in common: Russian troops under Vladimir Putin
in 2014 invaded and annexed Ukraine's Crimea province, just as they
had invaded and annexed Georgia's Abkhazia and South Ossetia provinces
in 2008. So Saakashvili and Poroshenko became friends.
So in May 2015, Poroshenko appointed Saakashvili governor of the
southern Ukrainian port city Odessa, with the direction to end
corruption and crime in the city. That didn't work out too well.
Saakashvili and Poroshenko started out as friends, but Saakashvili's
fight against corruption brought him into conflict with Poroshenko,
whom he accused of blocking the efforts to stop corruption. The two
then became enemies, and in November 2016, Saakashvili resigned from
his job in Odessa.
In November, Saakashvili announced the creation of a new political
party, the Movement of the New Forces, to oppose Poroshenko. In July
of this year, Poroshenko revoked Saakashvili's Ukrainian citizenship,
leaving him stateless, a man without a country. However, Saakashvili
claims that the revocation is illegal, since under international law
it's illegal to revoke someone's citizenship if it would leave him
stateless.
So on Sunday, Saakashvili returned to Ukraine, to lead his new
political party to the presidency of Ukraine. He will have many
hurdles to overcome, not the least of which is Poroshenko's threat to
extradite Saakashvili back to Georgia, where he's wanted on criminal
charges over alleged misappropriation of property and abuse of power.
Saakashvili has some powerful allies. When Saakashvili pushed through
the border guards into Ukraine on Sunday, there were several Ukrainian
politicians there to greet him. One was Yulia Tymoshenko, who also
had been a ally of Poroshenko, and then turned against him. On
Sunday, she said, "We've come to defend Mikhail, but we're also here
to defend Ukraine," saying that she wanted Poroshenko to be ousted,
just as Yanukovych had been ousted. BBC and AP and Deutsche Welle (11-Nov-2016)
Related Articles
KEYS: Generational Dynamics, Georgia, Ukraine, Mikhail Saakashvili,
Petro Poroshenko, Yulia Tymoshenko,
Rose Revolution, Ukraine, Orange Revolution, Eduard Shevardnadze,
Russia, Vladimir Putin, Abkhazia, South Ossetia, Crimea, Odessa
Permanent web link to this article
Receive daily World View columns by e-mail
Contribute to Generational Dynamics via PayPal
John J. Xenakis
100 Memorial Drive Apt 8-13A
Cambridge, MA 02142
Phone: 617-864-0010
E-mail: john@GenerationalDynamics.com
Web site: http://www.GenerationalDynamics.com
Forum: http://www.gdxforum.com/forum
Subscribe to World View: http://generationaldynamics.com/subscribe
This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com
- The colorful Mikhail Saakashvili 'invades' Ukraine from Poland and threatens revolution
- Saakashvili to 'march on Kiev' and challenge Poroshenko government
****
**** The colorful Mikhail Saakashvili 'invades' Ukraine from Poland and threatens revolution
****
Mikhail Saakashvili (L) is joined by Ukraine's former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko ® and other supporters on Sunday after entering Ukraine from Poland (AFP)
Mikhail Saakashvili, the man who is stateless, no longer the citizen
of any country, "invaded" Ukraine from Poland on Sunday, despite
attempts by Ukraine's government to keep him out. Saakashvili is
variously described as colorful, ambitious, arrogant, divisive,
headstrong, and an egomaniac, has had his citizenship revoked in two
countries, Georgia and Ukraine, mainly because he's constantly pissing
people off.
Saakashvili, who has been based in Poland's capital city Warsaw, had
vowed to return to Ukraine on Sunday, and challenge the government or
president Petro Poroshenko:
> [indent]<QUOTE>"I'll go through to the end, until victory. But it
> won't be my own victory, but that of the people over
> oligarchy."<END QUOTE>[/indent]
Poroshenko has declared Saakashvili to be persona non grata in
Ukraine, and said that Saakashvili would be prevented from entering.
So on Sunday morning Saakashvili took a train to Ukraine. But when it
reached the Polish town of Przemysl, the woman in charge of the train
said that she had been ordered by authorities to stop the train there
until Saakashvili got off. Saakashvili told journalists on the train
that authorities were effectively holding hundreds of passengers
hostage. He said: "Can you imagine what kind of idiots we’re dealing
with?"
After several hours of delay, Saakashvili got off the train, and got
onto a bus that took him to the border of Ukraine, intending to walk
across. Polish border guards allowed him pass. But a line of
Ukrainian border guards stood arm-in-arm to block Saakashvili from
crossing the Ukrainian checkpoint.
All of these shenanigans were being covered live in the news, and
thousands of Saakashvili supporters had gathered at the border
crossing. In early evening, Saakashvili and his supporters broke
through the line of border guards, and entered Ukraine.
The Ukrainian border service said in a Facebook post that the crowd
broke through a checkpoint and that fighting broke out when guards
tried to block Saakashvili's supporters. Deutsche Welle and AP and VOA and
Reuters
****
**** Saakashvili to 'march on Kiev' and challenge Poroshenko government
****
Mikhail Saakashvili has had an extremely colorful career.
In 2003, at age 36, Saakashvili became president of the Republic of
Georgia, in the "Rose Revolution,"
massive public demonstrations that brought down
the pro-Russian president Eduard Shevardnadze, and brought Saakashvili
to power.
Saakashvili remained in power until 2013, but in the midst of that
period, he and Georgia suffered a major humiliating loss, when Russian
troops under Vladimir Putin invaded Georgia in 2008, and captured two
Georgian provinces, Abkhazia and South Ossetia, which are still under
Russia's control.
Saakashvili was praised for fighting corruption, he adopted
authoritarian policies that he said were necessary to continue
fighting corruption, but which became increasingly unpopular.
Finally, Saakashvili was removed from the presidency in 2013. In May
2015, Ukraine's president Petro Poroshenko made him a Ukrainian
citizen, which resulted in the loss of his Georgian citizenship.
Saakashvili and Poroshenko had a lot in common. Saakashvili came to
power in the Rose Revolution of 2003. Poroshenko came to power in
2014 in a popular revolution similar to Ukraine's Orange Revolution of
2004. Just as Saakashvili had replaced the pro-Russian president
Eduard Shevardnadze, Poroshenko replaced the pro-Russian president
Viktor Yanukovych.
One more thing they had in common: Russian troops under Vladimir Putin
in 2014 invaded and annexed Ukraine's Crimea province, just as they
had invaded and annexed Georgia's Abkhazia and South Ossetia provinces
in 2008. So Saakashvili and Poroshenko became friends.
So in May 2015, Poroshenko appointed Saakashvili governor of the
southern Ukrainian port city Odessa, with the direction to end
corruption and crime in the city. That didn't work out too well.
Saakashvili and Poroshenko started out as friends, but Saakashvili's
fight against corruption brought him into conflict with Poroshenko,
whom he accused of blocking the efforts to stop corruption. The two
then became enemies, and in November 2016, Saakashvili resigned from
his job in Odessa.
In November, Saakashvili announced the creation of a new political
party, the Movement of the New Forces, to oppose Poroshenko. In July
of this year, Poroshenko revoked Saakashvili's Ukrainian citizenship,
leaving him stateless, a man without a country. However, Saakashvili
claims that the revocation is illegal, since under international law
it's illegal to revoke someone's citizenship if it would leave him
stateless.
So on Sunday, Saakashvili returned to Ukraine, to lead his new
political party to the presidency of Ukraine. He will have many
hurdles to overcome, not the least of which is Poroshenko's threat to
extradite Saakashvili back to Georgia, where he's wanted on criminal
charges over alleged misappropriation of property and abuse of power.
Saakashvili has some powerful allies. When Saakashvili pushed through
the border guards into Ukraine on Sunday, there were several Ukrainian
politicians there to greet him. One was Yulia Tymoshenko, who also
had been a ally of Poroshenko, and then turned against him. On
Sunday, she said, "We've come to defend Mikhail, but we're also here
to defend Ukraine," saying that she wanted Poroshenko to be ousted,
just as Yanukovych had been ousted. BBC and AP and Deutsche Welle (11-Nov-2016)
Related Articles
- China rebuffs Russia over Georgia invasion. (29-Aug-2008)
- Russia continues to tighten its grip on a humiliated Georgia (14-Aug-2008)
- Russia and Georgia are in a 'state of war' (09-Aug-2008)
- Putin calls Georgia's Ossetia policy a 'stupid decision' (19-Aug-2004)
- Georgian President lays out South Ossetia battle lines (24-Aug-2004)
KEYS: Generational Dynamics, Georgia, Ukraine, Mikhail Saakashvili,
Petro Poroshenko, Yulia Tymoshenko,
Rose Revolution, Ukraine, Orange Revolution, Eduard Shevardnadze,
Russia, Vladimir Putin, Abkhazia, South Ossetia, Crimea, Odessa
Permanent web link to this article
Receive daily World View columns by e-mail
Contribute to Generational Dynamics via PayPal
John J. Xenakis
100 Memorial Drive Apt 8-13A
Cambridge, MA 02142
Phone: 617-864-0010
E-mail: john@GenerationalDynamics.com
Web site: http://www.GenerationalDynamics.com
Forum: http://www.gdxforum.com/forum
Subscribe to World View: http://generationaldynamics.com/subscribe
