Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko’s decision to deprive former Georgian President and former head of the Odesa regional administration Mikheil Saakashvili of Ukrainian citizenship manifests his determination to dispose of opponents and retain power, leader of the Ukrainian Batkivshchyna association Yulia Tymoshenko said.
“The revocation of Saakashvili’s Ukrainian citizenship is dirty politics, which the incumbent administration led by President Petro Poroshenko is carrying out in relation to its opponents. Poroshenko’s only goal is to stay in power at any circumstances,” Tymoshenko said in a statement circulated on Thursday.
Instead of fighting corruption, Poroshenko “has deprived Saakashvili of Ukrainian citizenship based on political motives, tarnishing the reputation of the president of Ukraine and the entire state,” she said.
“Whom else will President Petro Poroshenko rid of citizenship? Or whom will he decide to throw behind bars or strip of property? And for how long will he be able to pretend at meetings with Western partners that ‘everything is OK, and we are pursuing reforms’?” Tymoshenko said.
Poroshenko’s decisions “dishonor Ukraine in the eyes of the entire world and should be properly assessed by the international community,” she said.
Tymoshenko also vowed that her team will withstand “all attacks by the authorities.”
The Ukrainian State Migration Service reported on July 26 that President Poroshenko had issued a decree revoking Saakashvili’s Ukrainian citizenship.
