Merkel welcomes Khodorkovsky release

German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Friday welcomed the release from a Russian prison of Kremlin critic and ex-oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky.

“I am happy,” she said about Khodorkovsky who has arrived in Berlin after the famous prisoner received a surprise pardon from Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Merkel was however the only EU leader at a two-day summit to have made a comment on Moscow’s decision to free the former tycoon, with others shying away from comments amid tensions with Russia over the political crisis in Ukraine.