Brussels, 26/05/2016 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 25 May, the European Union hailed the release of Ukrainian pilot Nadiya Savchenko earlier the same day in exchange for the release of two Russian prisoners. The EU took advantage of the occasion to call for implementation of the Minsk agreements.
“Finally, Nadiya Savchenko is free and back in her country”, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini stated. In a press release, Mogherini said that Savchenko's release was “an overdue gesture of human compassion”, and she wished Savchenko a prompt recovery after her long imprisonment. Mogherini encouraged all parties to build on “these positive steps” and to implement the package of measures for the implementation of the Minsk agreements, including the commitment to release all hostages and detained persons related to the conflict in eastern Ukraine.
European Parliament President Martin Schulz said Savchenko's freedom had been long awaited, and he that that it was a “good signal and good news (…) for the whole of Ukraine”. Several MEPs familiar with the Ukrainian issue said that the pilot's release sent “a positive signal in the context of pursuing efforts for the peaceful re-integration of the temporarily occupied territories of Luhansk and Donetsk regions and of Crimea”. In a joint press release, the chair of the European Parliament's foreign affairs committee Elmar Brok (EPP, Germany), the chair of the EU-Ukraine parliamentary association committee Andrej Plenkovic (EPP, Croatia) and its co-chairs Tibor Szanyi (S&D Hungary) and Kaja Kallas (ALDE, Estonia), and rapporteur from the foreign affairs committee for Ukraine Jacek Saryusz-Wolski (EPP, Poland) “encourage all parties to give a new impetus to the negotiation process in order to fully implement the Minsk agreements and hope for further efforts in the framework of the Normandy Format”. The MEPs also warned that they were not forgetting about the other Ukrainian citizens “unduly detained in Russia” and that they would continue to exercise pressure until they were all released. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)