Borrell welcomes Russia-West exchange of pardoned prisoners

BRUSSELS. Aug 2 (Interfax) - The European Union feels relieved over the release and transfer outside Russia and Belarus of pardoned prisoners, including EU citizens, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell said.

He pointed out the swap's facilitation by Turkey.

"The released activists, human rights defenders and journalists" were convicted "for political reasons," Borrell said in a statement on Thursday.

"All those still unjustly detained" in Russia and Belarus "must be immediately and unconditionally released," Borrell said.

Twenty-six inmates released from prison in Russia and the West were exchanged at the Ankara airport on Thursday.

Eight Russian citizens, detained and imprisoned in a number of NATO states, and minors returned to the home country on August 1, 2024, as a result of a prisoner swap at the airport of Ankara, Turkey, the public relations center of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) said.