Today, an online meeting took place at the Crimea Platform Office between the First Deputy Chairman of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People, Nariman Dzhelial, and Vice President of the Bundestag, Katrin Göring-Eckardt. The meeting was attended by Permanent Representative, Tamila Tasheva, and the Head of the Crimea Platform Department, Maria Tomak.

Katrin Göring-Eckardt served as a mentor to the First Deputy Chairman of the Mejlis Nariman Dzhelial during his unlawful imprisonment. She repeatedly emphasized the importance of his release, communicated with his family, made public statements about his condition on her social media, and sent him letters of support.

During the meeting, Nariman Dzhelial expressed his gratitude to Katrin Göring-Eckardt and her colleagues for their support during his imprisonment and their efforts to release Ukrainian political prisoners from Russian captivity:

“I received your letter, and it gave me great strength to keep going. Thank you for supporting not only me personally, but also Ukraine in its fight for freedom.”

The Vice President of the Bundestag thanked Nariman Dzhelial for his courage and bravery in the face of the Russian regime and for his struggle under harsh conditions. She also emphasized her support for maintaining and increasing sanctions against Russia and affirmed that Germany will continue to support Ukraine and fight for the release of prisoners:

“We will continue to support Ukraine because peace and security in Ukraine means freedom and justice for all of us.”

The First Deputy Chairman of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People also stressed the importance of continuing the fight for freedom and democracy:

“We all want peace, but we must understand how to achieve it. Concessions is not the way; Ukraine needs victory.”

The Permanent Representative highlighted that as of now there are 217 Crimean political prisoners in Russian jails, most of whom are representatives of Ukraine’s indigenous people, the Crimean Tatars:

“There are 217 political prisoners from Crimea still held in the captivity, and Nariman is the first to be released since 2019. The release of civilian hostages from Russian imprisonment is a challenging task. That is why we need the support of foreign partners and colleagues to achieve this.”