EU hopes for Sharoiko's speedy release

Ukrainian journalist Pavlo Sharoiko, who was detained in Minsk, should be released as soon as possible, Head of the EU Delegation to Ukraine Hugues Mingarelli has said.

He said this in comments to reporters in Kyiv on Wednesday, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

"It's really a pity. We hope that this journalist will be released as soon as possible," Mingarelli said, while commenting at the request of an Ukrinform correspondent on Sharoiko's detention in Minsk.

As reported, Ukrainian citizen Pavlo Shariko, a UA: Ukrainian Radio correspondent in Belarus, was detained in Minsk on October 25. He was charged with "espionage."

Sharoiko is suspected of creating an agent network in the republic. The Belarusian KGB states that after his arrest, Sharoiko admitted that he "is an intelligence officer and works undercover as a colonel." 

op