16:00 18 January 2021
Debate in EP on arrest of Alexei Navalny scheduled on Tuesday
On Tuesday, the European Parliament will debate the detention of the Russian oppositionist Alexei Navalny in Moscow. A vote on a possible resolution may be held on Thursday.
European Commission spokesman for international relations, Peter Stano, announced that relations between the EU and the Kremlin cannot be reduced to the Navalny case. He again called for the release of the Russian oppositionist and criticized the politicization of the judiciary in Russia. Earlier, Navalny's detention had been condemned by the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen. Charles Michel, President of the European Council, and Josep Borrell, the head of EU diplomacy, also called for his release on Sunday.
The opposition activist was detained on Sunday, less than an hour after a Russian Pobeda plane, flying from Berlin, landed at Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport. When Navalny was undergoing passport control, policemen approached him and demanded that he go with them. They refused to explain whether he was detained. The policemen did not allow Navalny to be accompanied by the lawyer Olga Mikhailovna, who had flown with him from Berlin. Russian prison services said that Navalny had been pursued by the arrest warrant. The court decided on Monday that the opponent would remain in custody until February 15.
(PAP)
