Within hours of his return, the man known to his supporters as “Misha” had already galvanized anti-government forces to promise a “unified democratic opposition” and angered his ally-turned-rival President Petro Poroshenko, who could have him arrested or deported.
Saakashvili — who became a Ukrainian citizen two years ago and was made governor of the Odessa region, only to have his Ukrainian citizenship revoked in July, leaving him stateless — entered Ukraine late Sunday despite being barred from the country. Hundreds of supporters helped Saakashvili push past Ukrainian border guards at the Shehyni border crossing. [...]
One option open to Ukrainian authorities is to extradite Saakashvili to Georgia, where he’s wanted for abuse of power while in office (charges that Saakashvili claims are politically motivated).
However, any move to arrest or deport him could backfire as the saga promises to be a ferocious legal fight, with Saakashvili bound to challenge the arrest as well as his revoked citizenship in Ukrainian and international courts. More than that, it’s going to be a political one. [...]
Valentyn Nalyvaichenko, a former head of Ukraine’s intelligence services who went into opposition politics, told POLITICO that he, former PM Yulia Tymoshenko, Saakashvili and others would create a “unified democratic opposition” to conduct “common protests around the country.”
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