Lithuanian EU Lawmaker Proposes to Grant Country's Citizenship to Saakashvili

Lithuania's member of the European Parliament Petras Austrevicius on Friday proposed to consider the possibility to provide former Georgian president and ex-Governor of Ukraine's Odessa region Mikheil Saakashvili with the citizenship of the Baltic nation.

VILNIUS (Sputnik) — On Wednesday, Ukraine's State Migration Service announced that country's President Petro Poroshenko had issued a decree rescinding Saakashvili's citizenship when it was discovered that he had provided incorrect information while applying for Ukrainian citizenship.

"Saakashvili could be given Lithuania's residence permit. The former Georgian leader could create here an organization focusing on political analysis, consultations and the Lithuanian citizenship would allow him to work in Europe," Austrevicius told the Lietuvos zinios news outlet.

The official added that provision of Lithuania's citizenship could not be ruled out despite certain legal difficulties.

In November 2013, Saakashvili left Georgia after Giorgi Margvelashvili became the country's president. In July 2014, the prosecutor's office in Georgia pressed criminal charges against the ex-president, accusing him of embezzling $5 million from the state coffers to use for personal purposes. In 2015, Saakashvili was stripped of his Georgian citizenship after receiving a Ukrainian passport.