MEP Ciolos calling on European Parliament for urgent debate on Navalny case

Chairman of the Renew Europe group in the European Parliament Dacian Ciolos is calling the detention of Alexei Navalny a 'coward gesture' of the regime led by Vladimir Putin, calling on the European Parliament for an urgent debate. "Getting Alexei Navalny arrested is a coward gesture of the regime led by Vladimir Putin that cannot go without consequences. I have called for an urgent debate on this outrageous case in the European Parliament because more than solidarity is needed at the moment. Navalny himself exposed a few weeks ago, after his own investigation, the criminals who poisoned him and who walk freely in Russia while he is under arrest. That is unacceptable," Ciolos wrote on Facebook. Romania's Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu said on Sunday on Twitter that detaining the Russian opposition leader was "unacceptable." "Detaining the Russian opposition leader Navalny on his return to Russia after he recovered from Novichok poisoning is unacceptable. Repression against the opposition, just because it is opposition, is purely undemocratic," the Romanian diplomat wrote. On Sunday evening, Navalny was detained at the passport checkpoint at Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport. Although he knew he could be arrested upon arrival in Russia, he returned from Berlin, where he had been hospitalised since August last year after being poisoned with neurotoxic agent Novichok. The Russian Penitentiary Authority (FSIN) confirmed the arrest. European Council President Charles Michel has called on the Russian authorities to release Navalny immediately, Reuters reports. AGERPRES (RO - author: Irinela Visan, editor: Florin Marin; EN - author: Corneliu-Aurelian Colceriu, editor: Adina Panaitescu)