Following the news of a further delay of the verdict on Nadiya Savchenko and her determination to continue her hunger strike, the EPP Group has called on the European Council to urgently take up her case and has reiterated its call for her immediate release. Manfred Weber MEP, Chairman of the EPP Group, and Jacek Saryusz-Wolski MEP, Vice-Chairman of the EPP Group responsible for Foreign Affairs and the European Parliament's Standing Rapporteur on Ukraine, stated:

"The Group of the European People's Party in the European Parliament requests that the European Council urgently takes up the case of Nadiya Savchenko as soon as possible. We are appalled by her dramatic situation. She has been on a dry hunger strike for days. Her health is in danger. In the coming days or hours, it will deteriorate completely and she will likely die.

We suggest that the Council uses its authority and contributes towards ensuring that Nadiya Savchenko is released immediately along with other political prisoners in Russia".

Note to Editors

Nadiya Savchenko (born in 1981) is a Ukrainian citizen, military pilot and Member of the Ukrainian Parliament. She has been kept in detention in Russia since mid-June 2014 when she was kidnapped in Eastern Ukraine and illegally transferred to Russia where, on the basis of false accusations, she was charged with killing two Russian journalists. The Russian prosecutor has requested 23 years imprisonment. On 3 March, Nadiya Savchenko started her 3rd hunger strike, this time refusing food and water.

The EPP Group is the largest political group in the European Parliament with 216 Members from 27 Member States