Georgy Kalatozishvili, Tbilisi. Exclusively to Vestnik Kavkaza
The former president of Georgia, Mikhail Saakashvili, has a chance to return to big politics due to events in Ukraine. It seemed he had vanished into thin air after the presidential elections of October 27th and his actual escape to the USA, where he was awarded the title of “invited top state activist” at the Fletcher Diplomatic School under Tufts University.
The former president’s wife, a citizen of the Netherlands, Sandra Rulovs, and their two children live in New York and the Netherlands. And it seems there are no reasons for the separation, except for political ones, i.e. Mikhail Saakashvili’s desire to return to politics as soon as possible. Life and work in the USA enable him to count on revenge to a larger extent than living in one of the “quiet provinces of Europe.”
There is no doubt that the maintenance of Saakashvili in politics is desired by a powerful part of the American elite. Tufts University is one of the cradles of American top politicians and businessmen.
However, if it were not for the events in Ukraine, Saakashvili would have had to read lectures and give rare comments on foreign political issues to certain periodicals for a long time. When the Maidan burst out in Kiev, Saakashvili jumped into action. He appeared to be demanded by several major American periodicals, in which he published articles, criticizing “Putin’s imperialism” and urging the West “to resist the reconstruction of the USSR.” He also spoke on the most popular TV-channels, presenting a way “to defeat Putin’s Russia”: “Stop giving visas to children of oligarchs and officials who live in the West for 2-3 months, if their daddies support the 'anti-Western' regime.”
Saakashvili connected with his old friends in the Orange Revolution of 2004, arrived in Munich to talk to them at the Munich Security Conference, spoke on the Maidan, and finally, after Yanukovich’s escape, he participated in a live broadcast of Rustavi-2 Georgian TV-company. He made a fantastic statement that he was supposedly offered a top position in the new Ukrainian government, but he rejected it. Whether this is true or not, we can only guess. Probably such an idea could be born in the head of one of the Maidan’s extravagant leaders. But the most important thing is that Saakshvili, who has always been interested only in Georgia, got an opportunity to revive and became a significant factor in Georgian politics.
Tbilisi City Court suddenly refused the Prosecution arrest of one of Saakashvili’s closest supporters – the former police official Gogi Oniani, who is accused of falsification of evidence and forgery. No surprise – the judges see that Saakashvili is reviving and has chances to get back to Georgian politics, as he has returned to the world politics through Ukraine.
