KIEV, Feb. 13 (Xinhua) -- Former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, who has been deported from Ukraine to Poland, said Tuesday he would not seek political asylum in Poland.
"I will not ask for any political salvation (in Poland)," Saakashvili, now leader of Ukraine's opposition "Movement of New Forces" party, said in an interview with Ukrainian TV channel News One.
The politician said that he was staying in a hotel in Poland, and that the Polish authorities had provided him with bodyguards.
Saakashvili was detained by Ukrainian border guards on Monday in a restaurant near his party's office in Kiev and deported to Poland by plane.
Ruslan Chornolutsky, Saakashvili's lawyer, told the Interfax news agency that he will appeal against the deportation -- which Saakashvili said was a kidnapping -- and fight for the politician's return to Ukraine.
The State Border Guard Service of Ukraine said Saakashvili had been residing in Ukraine "illegally" and was returned to the country from which he entered Ukraine.
Last week, Kiev's Administrative Court of Appeals approved a lower court's decision to reject Saakashvili's application for political asylum, which ruling Ukrainian Justice Minister Pavlo Petrenko said removed the legal obstacles hampering the former Georgian president's extradition from Ukraine.
Saakashvili, 50, was Georgian president from 2004-13, after which he went to Ukraine as an ally of Petro Poroshenko, now president of Ukraine. He acquired Ukrainian citizenship in May 2015 and was appointed governor of the southern Odessa region.
In July 2017, Poroshenko revoked Saakashvili's citizenship, following allegations that he had submitted false information while applying for his Ukrainian passport.
Two months later, Saakashvili entered Ukraine from Poland without showing the necessary documents to the border guards. His supporters broke through the cordon of security forces and escorted him into Ukraine.
Polish border guards said in a statement that Saakashvili was allowed entry into Poland as a spouse of a European Union (EU) citizen. His wife is a Dutch national and the Netherlands and Poland are both EU member states.
