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Savchenko's arrest: how the Rada voted to lift immunity
Summary
A look back at the Verkhovna Rada's decision on Nadiya Savchenko, and at Poland's disputes with Brussels in the same days.
What happened in Kyiv on 23 March 2018, and in the hours before it? The day followed an unusual session on 22 March, when the Verkhovna Rada consented to lifting the parliamentary immunity of MP Nadiya Savchenko and to her detention and arrest. Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) investigators then detained her inside the parliament building.
The case centred on an alleged plot to attack parliament and overthrow the government. As reported at the time, the arrest took place in the Rada itself, which made the sequence of consent followed by detention on the premises the focus of attention.
Poland and Brussels
Across the border, Warsaw was in its own dispute with European institutions. On 22 March 2018, Poland's ruling Law and Justice party proposed changes to its planned judicial reforms. The move answered European Union criticism that the plans threatened judicial independence. The European Commission was threatening Poland with sanctions over the reforms.
On 21 March, Polish Foreign Minister Jacek Czaputowicz had accused the European Union of "double standards" and of suffering "a deficit of democracy". Poland and the Commission were at odds over migrant quotas as well as the proposed judicial overhaul.
Missile defence delay
Also on 22 March, Polish and US authorities said the completion of the American missile defence complex in Poland, part of a NATO project, would be delayed until 2020.
What the days showed
Taken together, the reports from 21 and 22 March show a region with several political pressure points at once: a parliament in Kyiv acting against one of its own members, a Polish government under threat of EU sanctions while trying to adjust its reforms, and a NATO-linked defence project running behind schedule.
