Mikheil Saakashvili facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Mikheil Saakashvili
მიხეილ სააკაშვილი Міхеіл Саакашвілі
Saakashvili in 2017
3rd President of Georgia
In office 20 January 2008 – 17 November 2013
Prime Minister	Lado Gurgenidze Grigol Mgaloblishvili Nika Gilauri Vano Merabishvili Bidzina Ivanishvili
Preceded by	Nino Burjanadze (acting)
Succeeded by	Giorgi Margvelashvili
In office 25 January 2004 – 25 November 2007
Prime Minister	Zurab Zhvania Himself (acting) Zurab Nogaideli Giorgi Baramidze (acting) Lado Gurgenidze
Preceded by	Nino Burjanadze (acting)
Succeeded by	Nino Burjanadze (acting)
10th Governor of Odesa Oblast
In office 30 May 2015 – 9 November 2016
Preceded by	Ihor Palytsia
Succeeded by	Maksym Stepanov
Minister of Justice of Georgia
In office 12 October 2000 – 19 September 2001
President	Eduard Shevardnadze
Prime Minister	Giorgi Arsenishvili
Preceded by	John Khetsuriani
Succeeded by	Roland Giligashvili
Prime Minister of Georgia
Acting
In office 3 February 2005 – 17 February 2005
President	Himself
Preceded by	Zurab Zhvania
Succeeded by	Zurab Noghaideli
Member of the Parliament of Georgia
In office 6 November 2001 – 22 November 2002
In office 25 November 1995 – 2 March 2001
Chairman of the Tbilisi City Assembly
In office 4 November 2001 – 2003
Chair of Union of Citizens Faction in the Parliament of Georgia
In office 15 September 1998 – 20 November 1999
In office 27 November 1999 – 10 October 2000
Chair of Legal Issues Committee in the Parliament of Georgia
In office 27 November 1995 – 15 September 1998
Chairman of the United National Movement
In office 2001 – 5 December 2015
Preceded by	position established
Succeeded by	Grigol Vashadze
Honorary Chairman of the United National Movement
Incumbent
Assumed office 24 March 2019
Preceded by	position established
Personal details
Born	(1967-12-21) 21 December 1967 (age 57) Tbilisi, Georgian SSR, Soviet Union
Citizenship	Soviet (1967–1991) Georgian (1991–2015; 2021-present) Ukrainian (2015–2017; 2019–2021) Stateless (2017–2019)
Political party	Movement of New Forces (2017–present) United National Movement (2001–present) Union of Citizens of Georgia (1995–2001)
Spouse	Sandra Roelofs ​ (m. 1994)​
Children	4
Education	National University of Kyiv Columbia University George Washington University International Institute of Human Rights
Signature

Mikheil Saakashvili (Georgian: მიხეილ სააკაშვილი Mikheil Saak’ashvili [ˈmiχeil ˈsaːkʼaʃʷili]; Ukrainian: Міхеіл Саакашвілі [m⁽ʲ⁾ixeˈil sɐːkɐʃˈwil⁽ʲ⁾i], also known as Misha in Georgia; born 21 December 1967) is a Georgian and Ukrainian politician and jurist. He was the third president of Georgia for two consecutive terms from 25 January 2004 to 17 November 2013.

Early life and education

Saakashvili was born to a Georgian family in Tbilisi on 21 December 1967, capital of the then Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic in the Soviet Union. His father, Nikoloz Saakashvili, is a physician who practises medicine in Tbilisi and directs a local balneological centre. His mother, Giuli Alasania, is a historian who lectures at Tbilisi State University.

During university, he served his shortened military service in 1989–1990 with the Soviet Border Troops' checkpoint unit in the Boryspil Airport in Ukraine (then as Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, also a part of the Soviet Union). Saakashvili graduated from the Institute of International Relations (Department of International Law) of the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv (in then independent Ukraine) in 1992. At this university, he was friends with later President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko. While in Ukraine Saakashvili participated in the October 1990 student protest known as the "Revolution on Granite".

Saakashvili briefly worked as a human rights officer for the interim State Council of Georgia following the overthrow of President Zviad Gamsakhurdia before receiving a fellowship from the United States State Department (via the Edmund S. Muskie Graduate Fellowship Program). He received an LL.M. from Columbia Law School in 1994 and took classes at the School of International and Public Affairs and The George Washington University Law School the following year. In 1995, he also received a diploma from the International Institute of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France.

Political career

Saakashvili entered Georgian politics in 1995. He served as member of parliament and minister of justice under President Eduard Shevardnadze. Saakashvili later moved to opposition, establishing the United National Movement party. In 2003, Saakashvili became a leading opposition figure who accused the government of rigging the 2003 Georgian parliamentary election, spearheading mass protests which saw President Shevardnadze resign from his post in the bloodless Rose Revolution. Saakashvili's key role in the protests led to him being elected as the President in 2004. He was later reelected as President in 2008. However, his party suffered defeat in the 2012 Georgian parliamentary election, while Saakashvili was barred by the constitution of Georgia from seeking a third term in the 2013 presidential election, which was also won by the opposition candidate.

Presidency

During his tenure as president, Saakashvili oversaw police, military, economic and government reforms. As the new Patrol Police department was established, the entire police force was fired and replaced with new one in an effort to root out corruption. The bureaucratic spendings were decreased as several ministries were abolished to cut the government size. Military budget rose to 9.2% of GDP by 2007 to strengthen the nation's defense capability. The government pursued a zero-tolerance policy towards crime. Saakashvili appointed Kakha Bendukidze as the Minister of Economy to implement economic liberalization and rapid privatization. Georgia's economy grew 70% between 2003 and 2013, and per capita income roughly tripled. However, poverty only marginally declined. At the end of Saakashvili's second term, about a quarter of the population was still living below the absolute poverty rate.

The World Bank ranked the country 8th in terms of ease of doing business and named it as the leading economic reformer in the world. The Abkhaz–Georgian and Georgian-Ossetian conflicts continued during Saakashvili's presidency and saw a major escalation in 2008, which saw Russia officially announcing its support for separatists in Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Saakashvili led Georgia through the 2008 Russo-Georgian War, which ended after five days of fighting by a ceasefire agreement negotiated by the French president Nicolas Sarkozy. The war resulted in Georgia losing all of its possessions in the disputed territories. Russia subsequently recognized the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, while Georgia responded with breaking diplomatic relations.

On the economic front, Saakashvili pursued a neoliberal policy: abolition of the minimum wage, dismissal of 60,000 civil servants, lowering of corporate income tax from 20% to 15%, and dividend tax from 10% to 5%. In 2009, Forbes ranked Georgia as the fourth country with the lowest tax burden in the world.

During Saakashvili's tenure, Georgia went through several political crises. In 2007, mass demonstrations erupted demanding resignation of Saakashvili. Shortly after the 2013 presidential election, Saakashvili left Georgia.

Post-presidency

In 2014, the Prosecutor's Office of Georgia filed criminal charges against Saakashvili. In 2018, the Tbilisi City Court sentenced him in absentia to six years in prison. Saakashvili continued to manage his party from abroad while accusing the Georgian government of using the legal system as a tool of political retribution.

Saakashvili supported Ukraine's Euromaidan movement and the Revolution of Dignity. On 30 May 2015, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko appointed Saakashvili as Governor of Odesa Oblast. He was also granted Ukrainian citizenship, and due to restrictions on dual nationality under Georgian law, was stripped of his Georgian citizenship. On 7 November 2016, Saakashvili resigned as governor while blaming President Poroshenko personally for enabling corruption in Odesa and in Ukraine overall. Four days later, he announced his goal to create a new political party called Movement of New Forces.

On 26 July 2017, Saakashvili (at the time staying in the US) was stripped of his Ukrainian citizenship by Petro Poroshenko, and became a stateless person. He reentered Ukraine with a group of supporters through Poland but was arrested in February 2018 and deported. Saakashvili moved to the Netherlands, where he was granted permanent residency. On 29 May 2019, he returned to Ukraine after newly elected President Volodymyr Zelenskyy restored his citizenship. On 1 October 2021, Saakashvili announced via Facebook his return to Georgia after an eight-year absence, on the eve of the local elections. Later on the same day Prime Minister of Georgia Irakli Garibashvili held a press briefing announcing that Saakashvili had been arrested in Tbilisi. According to the investigation, Saakashvili entered the country secretly, hiding in a semi-trailer truck loaded with milk products. He illegally crossed the state border of Georgia, bypassing the customs control. He was placed in the No. 12 penitentiary facility in Rustavi. President of Georgia Salome Zourabichvili stated that she would "never" pardon Saakashvili. He has been transferred to hospital numerous times due to his health condition and since May 2022 he is being treated in a civilian clinic in Tbilisi.

Personal life

Sandra Roelofs, Michelle Obama, Mikheil Saakashvili and Barack Obama in 2009

Saakashvili is married to Dutch linguist Sandra Roelofs, whom he met in Strasbourg in 1993. The couple have two sons, Eduard and Nikoloz. A few days before Saakashvili's October 2021 return to Georgia he recorded a video on Facebook with Ukrainian MP Yelyzaveta Yasko in which they disclosed they were having a romantic relationship. A few days later Yasko remarked that Sandra Roelofs was Saakashvili's "ex-wife". There had been no media reports that Saakashvili and his spouse Roelofs had divorced. On 1 June 2023 Yasko revealed that she and Saakashvili had become parents, the gender and birthdate of the baby were not announced. At the time of birth Saakashvili was imprisoned.

Apart from his native Georgian, Saakashvili speaks fluent English, French, Russian and Ukrainian, and has some command of Ossetian and Spanish.

Some non-Georgian sources spell Saakashvili's first name using the Russian spelling, Mikhail. In Georgia, he is commonly known as Misha, a hypocorism for Mikheil.

Saakashvili enjoys exercise and has in the past often been seen in public on his bicycle.

Electoral history

Images for kids

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  Saakashvili's inauguration as president of Georgia

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  Anti-Saakashvili poster in Tbilisi, 2006

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  U.S. President George W. Bush and Saakashvili meet in Tbilisi on May 10, 2005.

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  Mikheil Saakashvili with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in 2010

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  Saakashvili at the 2007 European People's Party Summit in Lisbon.

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  Graffiti in Tbilisi

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  Saakashvili in 2008

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  Meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, 22 February 2008

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  Mikheil Saakashvili (2013)

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  Saakashvili-led protesters demand Petro Poroshenko's impeachment, Kyiv, 3 December 2017

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  Mikheil Saakashvili (2019)