Donald Tusk, current head of the European People’s Party (EPP) and former president of the European Council, has encouraged the EU leaders to raise the issue of release of former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili from prison while PM Irakli Garibashvili is in Brussels. 

Garibashvili met with NATO and EU officials in Brussels and arrived there to attend the EU’s Eastern Partnership Summit yesterday. 

“I urge my European colleagues to discuss with the Georgian Prime Minister the release of Saakashvili, the 3rd Georgian President who launched talks on the EU-Georgia Association Agreement,” Tusk tweeted. 

Saakashvili was arrested in Tbilisi on October 1 after eight years in political exile. 

He claims he returned to help the opposition remove the Georgian Dream from power. 

However, now he says that national reconciliation is required. 

Saakashvili was convicted in Georgia in absentia back in 2018 for abuse of power and was sentenced to six years in prison. 

He has also been charged with five other offenses.