Right after his appointment to the position as head of the Odessa Oblast, Mikheil Saakashvili gave interviews to Georgian politicians. Almost simultaneously he gave a big interview to the TV-companies Imedi and Rustavi-2 in Odessa.
Saakashvili made some important statements in the interview. For example, commenting on his sensational appointment, he said that Petro Poroshenko’s initiative didn’t surprise him, as “Putin considered Odessa to be a part of the imperial project of Novorossiya.”
It seems that Mikheil Saakashvili is acting after his kind. He likes to sharpen the situation; he understands that the Odessa Oblast borders the south wing of the Donbas front and Transdniestria. The circumstances make the game even more risky.
In the same interview Saakashvili mentioned “a deluge of illegal traffic from Transdniestria.” The thing is that the image of the former president of Georgia as a corruption fighter rules out any opportunity for a compromise with Transdniestria in the problem of cargo traffic, as the issue is considered within the framework of fighting corruption.
Just like 11 years ago during his struggle against illegal traffic from South Ossetia, Saakashvili will refer to the fact that bureaucrats in Odessa and Kiev “make money on Transdniestrian contraband; and if the black hole is not closed, the fight against corruption loses any sense.” Just like in the case with South Ossetia, talk about corruption at the top levels of the regional and central power structures will have grounds. But the price for fighting corruption and the struggle against illegal traffic from South Ossetia was an unfreezing of the bloody conflict, which was frozen by Russian peacemakers 16 years ago.
It is notable that the new governor called his position in Odessa “real business”, in comparison with his “paperwork” as the Vice Premier of the Ukrainian government. This is his style: to jump into a rapid stream, and come what may.
Meanwhile, the Minister of Justice of Georgia, Tea Tsulukiani, expressed the common opinion of the Georgian authorities, stating that with all due respect to the Ukrainian state, the General Prosecution Service will still demand the extradition of the new governor of Odessa to Georgia, where four criminal affairs have been initiated against him into abuse of power and civic peculation.
Mrs. Tsulukiani states that she is ready to delay the formal process of depriving Mikhail Saakashvili of his citizenship (even though the Constitution of the country forbids dual citizenship) to have at least political grounds to demand his extradition. “Let the issue hang above Saakashvili like a Damocles’ sword,” the Minister, who is thought to be one of the most uncompromising opponents of the former president, said.
Many people believe that such an approach is unrealistic: he is a governor in a foreign country, i.e. a person who takes a state political position and uses the unlimited support of President Poroshenko. However, the ruling 'Georgian Dream' coalition stands for the well-known formula in its policy: never say never.
