Former Georgian president Eduard Shevardnadze dies

Former President of Georgia, ex-Foreign Minister of the USSR Eduard Shevardnadze died today aged 87, his family has said, according to RIA Novosti.

He served as First Secretary of the Georgian Communist Party from 1972 to 1985, and as the President of independent Georgia from 1992 to 2003. Shevardnadze was responsible for many top decisions on Soviet foreign policy in the Gorbachev Era. He was forced to retire in 2003 as a consequence of the bloodless Rose Revolution.

In 2012 Shevardnadze publicly apologized to the Georgian people for relinquishing power in favor of Mikhail Saakashvili.