• Ukraine’s President Sidelines Opponent by Stripping His Citizenship
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[URL="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/27/world/europe/mikhail-saakashvili-ukraine-citizenship-poroshenko.html?ribbon-ad-idx=4&rref=world/europe"]NY Times[/URL] [QUOTE]MOSCOW — Once they were prominent allies in opposing the Kremlin: President Petro O. Poroshenko of Ukraine and the former president of Georgia, Mikheil Saakashvili. Mr. Saakashvili even went so far as to emigrate to Ukraine to serve as a regional governor under Mr. Poroshenko. But they have now fallen out so badly that on Wednesday, Mr. Poroshenko stripped Mr. Saakashvili of his Ukrainian citizenship, leaving him stateless. The conflict between them centers on Ukraine’s widespread corruption. After the 2014 revolution overthrew a pro-Russian president in Ukraine, Mr. Saakashvili and about a dozen other Georgian officials with experience rooting out corruption moved to Ukraine to join the new government. But before long, Mr. Saakashvili became disillusioned, saying that the country was doing too little to fight corruption. He resigned his post and set up an opposition political movement, and in the process badly soured his relations with Mr. Poroshenko. That culminated in the decree Mr. Poroshenko signed on Wednesday. Mr. Saakashvili responded in a post on his Facebook page, saying that Mr. Poroshenko had “crossed a red line” with the decree, and by failing to address corruption. He said the president was risking stirring another popular uprising in Ukraine. And in the ultimate insult for opponents of the Russian president, Vladimir V. Putin, Mr. Saakashvili suggested that Mr. Poroshenko might have to flee to Russia. “Now, doubtless, you, as was the case with your predecessor, will be tempted to try and hold on to power at any price,” he wrote. “You may try this, just remember, they are waiting for you in Russia! Ukrainians have twice dealt with this pestilence and they will not stop.”[/QUOTE] What the literal actual fuck. This is just so blatantly anti-democratic I'm speechless. What will it take for Ukrainians to get a government that will actually treat them and their country with respect?
Too bad a country on the east of them wants to gobble them up too.
[QUOTE=OmniConsUme;52514062]Too bad a country on the east of them wants to gobble them up too.[/QUOTE] This is what deeply upsets and conflicts me. Ukraine, outside looking in, appears to have enough problems without also having a deeply aggressive neighbour violating its sovereignty and rule of law. That just makes the situation even worse and I fear that even if it was sorted out soon, Ukraine would still take decades to recover and make progress.
He shouldn't have been a citizen in the first place, let alone a governor. Saakashvili was a mistake. He's a criminal and a hypocrite.
[QUOTE=Laserbeams;52514170]He shouldn't have been a citizen in the first place, let alone a governor. Saakashvili was a mistake. He's a criminal and a hypocrite.[/QUOTE] Is there a background to this that the article isn't giving us?
[QUOTE=killerteacup;52514242]Is there a background to this that the article isn't giving us?[/QUOTE] He was a pretty mediocre president in Georgia and then he went and became a governor in Ukraine. Then again most presidents in Georgia have been rubbish. That's what my mother, who is from Georgia, has been telling me anyway, Though he did do quite good for combatting corruption.
[QUOTE=Laserbeams;52514170]He shouldn't have been a citizen in the first place, let alone a governor. Saakashvili was a mistake. He's a criminal and a hypocrite.[/QUOTE] Is there a politician in Ukraine that you trust?
[QUOTE=proboardslol;52514578]Is there a politician [del]in Ukraine[/del] that you trust?[/QUOTE] I mean...
Poroshenko was the one who granted him citizenship in a first place, despite latter being wanted in Georgia for prosecution for quite legitimate reasons, and yet only now, when Saakashvili conviniently in US, they rewoke his citizenship due to "new details" from Georgia. Maybe world should stop giving Ukraine a pass with all the "agressive Russia, victim Ukraine" crap and really look into who grabs Europe's support to stay in power there.
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