What Hilde spoke about.

The overwhelming majority of the Council members were outraged by the anti-LGBTIQ law Orbán introduced in Hungary. Rightfully so. Orbán has crossed redlines before but that was a new low. I welcome the response by most heads of state and government but it should not stop here. The Council needs to trigger Article 7 against this Hungarian Government. All legal means should be applied in order to sh

Madam President, dear High Representative, dear colleagues, ten days ago, ICC Judge Navi Pillay received the Nobel Peace Prize. And what was Trump's response? More sanctions against the ICC. Yesterday, this Parliament selected the ICC among the finalists for our Sakharov Prize. But prizes and words are not enough. International justice is under attack. And who pays the price? The woman raped in ea

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, I refer to Rule 150 of the Rules of Procedure. For more than 30 years, war has ravaged eastern DRC, one of the deadliest conflicts since World War II. Today, we are deeply concerned about Joseph Kabila's rapprochement with the Rwanda-backed M23 rebels. Our Parliament has adopted two resolutions calling for peace, the withdrawal of Rwandan groups and sanctions

Well for me, it is very clear. I think if there is a decision, we should follow the decision, that's very clear. But I think what you want to mention, also, is that if they want to export, we have to help them also to export. So for me, as the Chair of the EU-Africa delegation – and I think it was your colleague, Udo, who also said it – we have to help ensure that the benefits of the minerals stay

Madam President, colleagues, for much too long, Europe has looked at Africa through the lens of development aid. This must end. Africa does not need another lecture from Europe. Africa is our fourth largest trading partner and we are Africa's largest export market. Africa needs Europe to be a reliable partner – a partner that invests not only in raw materials but in industries, processing and jobs

Madam President, I would like to thank the Commissioner very much for the nice words and for the support of this report. And thank you, colleagues, for this debate. I think I can conclude by saying that we have heard different views today. There were, of course, some critical voices, while others focused more on partnership and cooperation. And these views do not have to contradict each other, col

Madam President, dear colleagues, 1 billion euros every day – that was Europe's trade deficit with China last year, and this gap is growing even further. In her State of the Union speech, President von der Leyen told us that words are good, but deeds are better. She was right. For too long we have opened our market without getting the same access in China, for too long we have accepted unfair comp

Mr President, High-Representative, Europe keeps saying that the two-state solution is the only path to peace. But while we repeat these words, the possibility of two states is disappearing before our eyes. In the West Bank settlements continue to expand, Palestinians are being driven from their land and, with the olive harvest approaching, families risk losing their livelihood. High-Representative

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, the Ebola outbreak in the DRC is one of the most serious in history. Moreover, the armed conflict in eastern DRC makes fighting almost impossible. Without security, it is impossible to stop the epidemic. Africa, ladies and gentlemen, is a key partner. He is our neighbour. Faced with a virus that threatens an entire region, we cannot remain spectators: we need

Mr President, dear colleagues, Madam Commissioner, the world spends more on weapons in one single day than it spends on tackling sexual violence as a weapon of war in an entire year. For the first time, the UN has listed Israeli forces among the parties suspected of conflict‑related sexual violence. At the same time, the UN has recorded, colleagues, the highest number of grave violations against c

Madam President, dear colleagues, dear High Representative, two weeks ago in the West Bank, Sam, a seven-month-old Palestinian baby, was shot in the face by an Israeli soldier. He is dead and almost no one is speaking his name. Sam is dead because impunity in Israel and the occupied territories has made the lives of Palestinian children expendable. Where soldiers and settlers kill without conseque

Mr President, ‘take the deal and shut up’ was Trump’s message to Europe for months, from his entourage and, frankly, from many people here in this Parliament. Well, Europe has responded, not on its knees, but with conditions. We say very clearly: We want this agreement, but we want it for our strategic autonomy and conditionality. Thanks to this Parliament – and Mrs Van Brempt, you say: “That's th

Madam President, colleagues, our President said the title of the debate is outdated, since we have the announced agreement between the United States and Iran. Therefore, I propose that we update the title also, colleagues, because this House should not only reflect on what is happening, but this House should have the courage to put forward what Europe needs to do in this conflict. For that reason,

Mr President, Commissioner, a few figures: In Antwerp alone, twice as many minors were arrested last year as in the previous year. The youngest was 13 years old. In Rotterdam and Marseille, children of eight years old are used as drug couriers. Those aren't edge cases. This is a structural crisis. Organized criminal networks strategically recruit children through algorithms, gamification and encry

Madam President, High Representative, colleagues, late in the evening, but a very important topic: the United Nations General Assembly and recommendations from this House. We all know peace and security, human rights and justice are three of the core values of the United Nations, but unfortunately, we must admit the system has failed. It has failed in providing peace and security, and it has faile

Mr President, Commissioner, colleagues, what a lively debate. I heard very good interventions. The first one, of course, from my colleague Sandro Gozi and then from Van Lanschot. Very good. I also heard some interventions which I didn't like. I don't know where to look, but it was more on that side. (The speaker gestured to the right) I think colleagues Sandro and Van Lanschot, you were right. It

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, every new crisis, whether in Russia or in the Middle East, raises energy prices again. Again and again we say: We are too dependent on foreign countries and unstable regimes. Time and again it is our families and our companies who pay the price in cash at the pump or at home. Every geopolitical shock today translates directly into a higher bill for citizens and

Madam President, dear colleagues, I would like to make a point of order based on Rule 150. Saturday, 25 April marked 10 years since Swedish-Iranian academic Ahmadreza Djalali was sentenced and arrested in Iran. Ten years! He is currently the longest‑standing EU citizen held hostage by the Iranian authorities. And like Hannah asked, we have to continue to demand his release. On this heartbreaking a

Mr President, Commissioner, the completion of the internal market is no longer a technocratic project. It is an economic and geopolitical necessity. The debate over the last hour has shown that there is a very broad area of support. It's very clear to me. The completion of the internal market must be the number one priority. If it depends on me, we're going to have a one-stop-shop debate over the

Mr President, Commissioner, colleagues, how many more times will we stand here and say we are concerned about Sudan? While people are being slaughtered every day, the reality becomes worse – intensified fighting in Kordofan, new horrors in Darfur, no ceasefire in sight before Ramadan, and growing foreign interference pushing Sudan towards regional collapse. Humanitarian aid matters, sanctions matt

Mr President, colleagues have already said it here: Europe needs to accelerate. Now. Drones are the soldiers of the future. I think that's very clear. Look at Ukraine, how they are deployed there. How these small machines can do enormous damage. Look closer to home, how they're shutting down our airports, shutting down Zaventem, spying on civilians. I think we really need to look at that. How thes

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, good evening! This debate is one of the most important. It is a debate about the life or death of a man. Joseph Figueira Martin, Belgo-Portuguese, a respected humanitarian worker, has been detained for more than six hundred days in the Central African Republic. He was arbitrarily arrested, detained by the Wagner Group, tortured and sentenced on 4 November to