Exiled former Georgia president Mikheil Saakashvili is returning to Ukraine after having his citizenship reinstated.
The move was made by newly-elected Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
Saakashvili was last known to be living in the Netherlands after falling out with Zelenskiy’s predecessor, Petro Poroshenko.
The two had known each other for many years: they both graduated from the Institute of International Relations, Kyiv, in the same year.
Saakashvili supported Ukraine’s “Maidan Revolution” that swept Poroshenko to power.
In May 2015 Poroshenko appointed Saakashvili as a governor of Odessa region, which required him being given Ukrainian citizenship.
This meant Saakashvili had to give up his passport in Georgia, where he was in power from January 2004 to November 2013.
Saakashvili’s relationship with Poroshenko deteriorated and he accused him of corruption. In 2016, he resigned as Odessa region governor and started a new political party.
A year later he led the anti-government protests and was detained by Ukrainian police several times.
After being stripped of his Ukrainian citizenship Saakashvili was deported from Ukraine to Poland and ended up residing in the Netherlands.
Saakashvili told Euronews last year that he wanted to clear his name and return to Georgia.
That came as his ally, Grigol Vashadze, was the frontrunner to win Georgia’s presidential run-off in November 2018.
But Vashadze lost to Salome Zurabishvili.
The 50-year-old’s homecoming would have been controversial after his conviction-in-absentia and six-year jail term for abuse of power.
Saakashvili claimed the trial was politically motivated.