Saakashvili says lost Ukraine citizenship due to president's fear of opposition

FILE PHOTO: Former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili speaks during an interview with Reuters in Kiev, Ukraine, November 16, 2016. Picture taken November 16, 2016. REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko/File Photo

KIEV (Reuters) - Ex-Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili said he would fight Kiev's decision to strip him of his Ukrainian citizenship, saying it was an attempt to stifle political opposition that betrayed the aims of Ukraine's 2013-14 pro-European uprising.

Saakashvili had been building a new political career in Ukraine after President Petro Poroshenko appointed him as governor of the Odessa region in 2015. But relations between the two men soured and Saakashvili resigned last November, citing opposition to reform, and set up a new political party.