Zelensky appoints Saakashvili to top post in advisory body
Earlier reports claimed the former president of Georgia and ex-Odesa governor was offered to become vice PM, which caused a spat with Tbilisi.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky by his decree has appointed Mikheil Saakashvili chairman of the Executive Reform Committee, the advisory body created in 2014.
"I sincerely congratulate Mikheil Nikolozovich [Saakashvili] on the new responsible challenge. I believe he will be able to give an impetus to the National Reform Council and will help in the implementation of important changes in the country's life," Ukraine's president Zelensky said, according to his Office's press service, UNIAN reports.
By the same decree, the president appointed Oleksandr Olshansky a former Georgian president's deputy.
"The document amends the decrees of the head of state on a unified state reform policy in Ukraine, ensuring the activities of the National Reform Council and the Executive Reform Committee and the provision on the National Reform Council. The decree shall come into force on the day it is published," the statement said.
As UNIAN reported earlier, on April 22, Saakashvili claimed he had received from President Zelensky an offer to become vice prime minister for reform. According to media reports, after long negotiations, the People's Servant ruling parliamentary faction at its meeting failed to gather enough votes to secure Saakashvili's appointment.
After that, reports said, the Cabinet of Ministers withdrew from the Verkhovna Rada a relevant submission.
The news on possible plans to offer Saaksashvili a senior government post sparked a row with Georgia, where its former president has been found guilty of a criminal offense and sentenced in absentia.
The incumbent President of Georgia, Salome Zurabishvili, on April 29 expressed concern about the news coming from Kyiv.
At the same time, she added that she wouldn’t want to undermine cooperation with Ukraine in joint efforts toward protecting territorial integrity and sovereignty.
"I can't even imagine how anyone could be so important as to jeopardize long-term relations between our states, neglect our institutions and insult our society," the Georgian leader said.
"I hope that the joint past, present, and future of our fraternal nations will never be called into question," the Georgian president said.
Azerbaijan hosts World Forum on Intercultural Dialogue
01 May 2024 / 13:38
63 people detained during Tbilisi protest
01 May 2024 / 13:32
Armenia’s Pashinyan spills water on his desk, clothes to explain what he is doing in Tavush Province
30 April 2024 / 13:25
Armenia, Azerbaijan FMs to meet in Kazakhstan
29 April 2024 / 13:40
Aram I: Mr. Erdogan, our ancestors were massacred by your ancestors, don't try to oppose diaspora to Armenia
24 April 2024 / 14:20
Azerbaijan and Armenia start border delimitation process
23 April 2024 / 11:38
Armenia premier: Our society asks why we continue to be member state of CSTO?
23 April 2024 / 11:30
Ilham Aliyev on his way to Moscow for talks with Vladimir Putin
22 April 2024 / 10:39
German Foreign Ministry reacts to agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan on border delimitation
22 April 2024 / 10:32
Is Pashinyan going to attend Putin's inauguration?
17 April 2024 / 14:40
Russian peacekeepers’ pulling out from Nagorno-Karabakh has begun, Kremlin confirms
17 April 2024 / 14:34
Tokayev: Kazakhstan ready to offer platform for Armenia-Azerbaijan negotiations
15 April 2024 / 13:37
U.S. refuses to join Israel in retaliatory action against Iran
15 April 2024 / 11:33
Olivier Decottignies: France is providing Armenia military gear everyone’s desperate to get
09 April 2024 / 13:58
Ruben Vardanyan nominated for Nobel Peace Prize
08 April 2024 / 13:48