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UPDATE: Ex-Georgian PM stopped from crossing into Ukraine from Poland for hours

PR dla Zagranicy
Victoria Bieniek 11.09.2017 08:30
Stateless former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili has reportedly been “carried” back into Ukraine, after an hours-long attempt to cross the border from Poland on Sunday.
Mikheil Saakashvili Photo: EPA/MARKIIAN LYSEIKO.Mikheil Saakashvili Photo: EPA/MARKIIAN LYSEIKO.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko wants punishments to be handed down for the Saakashvili-supporters who barged across the border to bring Saakashvili across from Poland.

Saakashvili, who used to govern the region of Odessa, wanted to re-enter Ukraine on Sunday to contest a July decision to revoke his citizenship.

Saakashvili had planned on taking an afternoon train from the southeastern Polish city of Przemyśl to Kyiv, but an onboard announcement said the train would not leave the station while carrying “a person who is not allowed entry to Ukraine”.

The train was held at the Polish station for hours, with other passengers offered special buses in order to continue their journey.

Saakashvili and his travel companions, including former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and Ukrainian officials and journalists, later boarded a bus to the border.

They passed the Polish checkpoint but were held at the Ukrainian border for nearly two hours.

Finally, Saakashvili's supporters broke through a line of guards, the Reuters news agency reported, citing a Ukrainian border service spokesman's Facebook post.

Saakashvili said his supporters “carried” him across the border, the BBC reported.

Saakashvili was expected to hold a rally in Lviv on Sunday night before deciding with his supporters on whether to head to Kyiv. (vb/pk)

Source: PAP

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