NYT „Germany Grapples with Difficult Decision in Prisoner Swap“ — Zitate
Then on Friday one of the most prominent Russian opposition figures, Ilya Yashin, said at a news conference that he considered himself pushed into involuntary exile rather than granted any kind of freedom.
“That makes the whole thing ever more complicated for Berlin,” said Mr. Yusupov of the Berlin foundation.
Context: The deal was a complex and asymmetrical endeavour for Berlin when compared to DC and Moscow. It questioned legal traditions and applied an extensive humanitarian logic for the calculation of the appropriate swap list beyond own citizens. Still the imbalance between the arbitrarily and the lawfully convicted, between spies and dissidents, a clueless German tourist and a professional hitman weighs heavy. Moscow played Berlin additionally by adding Mr Yashin and Ms Fadeyeva to the list against their will and transforming a liberation into a forced expulsion.