Saakashvili: Authorities tried to prevent my return to Ukraine with threats and money offers

Georgia's ex-President, former chairman of the Odesa regional state administration Mikheil Saakashvili says he was offered money for staying away from Ukraine.

As reported by Censor.NET citing UNIAN, he said it speaking before journalists in Lviv.

"90 percent of Ukrainians in all polls say they [authorities] had to let me in... They'd better not regard people as complete idiots. What breach are they talking about? Mass violations on the border? Mass riots? Mass casualties? It's as simple as that: the profiteers and the president don't want me to stay here. They used the army, threatened me with extradition, arranged press conferences, put pressure on the Polish authorities, sent me all sorts of forecasts. They offered money to make me not come back. I said: I'm sorry, but I'll come back," Saakashvili said.

As reported, Saakashvili decided to enter Ukraine on Sept. 10 by train to avoid turmoil at Krakovets border crossing point. Intercity train from Przemysl to Kyiv was supposed to leave at 1:07 p.m. yesterday but was delayed for several hours. Some sources reported the train was delayed by law enforcers, but police soon disproved the reports. In its turn, Ukraine's major railway carrier Ukrzaliznytsia explained the delay in schedule by presence of a person on board who had no grounds to enter Ukraine.

Saakashvili subsequently arrived at Shehyni border crossing point where his supporters breached across the Ukrainian border and brought the politician and his delegation onto territory of Ukraine.

On July 26, President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko signed a decree that deprived former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, leader of Rukh Novykh Syl party, of his Ukrainian citizenship.

On Sept. 5, Deputy Justice Minister for European Integration Serhii Petukhov announced that the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine received a request from the Georgian Prosecutor General's Office to arrest and extradite former Georgian President, ex-head of the Odesa regional state administration Mikheil Saakashvili.