At the request of ECR Foreign Affairs Coordinator Anna Fotyga, the European Parliament debated the situation of former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, whose health has deteriorated drastically in prison.

The ECR considers the pro-Western Saakashvili to be a personal prisoner of Putin and calls for his immediate release for treatment in the West.

The ECR Group believes the appalling situation of Saakashvili weakens the pro-Western direction of this country.

Speaking in plenary, Fotyga said:

“Several years ago, Vladimir Putin personally described the kind of treatment he wanted to impose on Mikheil Saakashvili.

“As any other person in the world, Saakashvili is entitled to his homeland, not being an outlaw.

“Even in prison he is not being treated like any other person. I appeal to the Georgian authorities to release him on humanitarian grounds so that he can be cured. He is dying in prison and this has a great impact on the future of Georgia.”

Fotyga is in correspondence with Saakashvili, who has written letters from prison asking for medical treatment in the European Union.