What Bettina spoke about.

The Slovenian Presidency promises to resolve the blockade in the talks on the New Pact on Asylum and Migration. However, this project raises a number of questions: According to reports by NGOs and other institutions such as the Fundamental Rights Agency FRA, chain pushbacks of refugees have increased under the current Slovenian government. In the EU, all Member States have signed the Geneva Conven

Madam President, esteemed representatives of the Commission and the Council, ladies and gentlemen! I would really like to be able to give this speech differently today. But unfortunately nothing has changed. Therefore, for the second time: For years, the Hungarian government under Viktor Orbán has been demonstrably systematically and consciously dismantling democracy, the rule of law and fundament

Mr President! It is the end of a long debate, and I think we are all aware of how much the protection of our data in the virtual world has come under pressure. But how far have we come when governments from EU Member States use spyware such as Pegasus to monitor opposition and civil society, not real threats based on laws? It is high time that we finally defend the fundamental right of European ci

Mr President! Many thanks to all, the text has become really good. The COVID pandemic is bad, but particularly fatal for children and adolescents. Many did not have sufficient access to education even before COVID. However, the long school closures further hampered the right to education. 1.8 billion students had limited access. This means an immense lack of education, but also a lack of care and

Madam President, Commissioner! Today we are discussing our position on the new Schengen evaluation mechanism, which has already been presented by the rapporteur - thank you for that. Although the European Parliament has only been given a consultative role here and no formal trilogue negotiations will take place, we nevertheless expect the Council and the Commission to take our demands into account

Madam President, Commissioner! While we acknowledge with appreciation in recent weeks that the European Union is accepting millions of refugees from Ukraine in a long-awaited solidarity, people at other borders are still partly forcibly prevented from exercising their legal right to apply for asylum. The sad fact is that violations of rights at European borders are not the exception, but the norm.

The freedom of one ends where the freedom of the other begins. And to protect the health of the entire population, a vaccination obligation can also be constitutionally legitimized. It is precisely this case that we have in the course of a pandemic. It was not invented in Austria, it prevails worldwide. We still haven't defeated them. I think this also gives rise to a vaccination obligation. In Au

Madam President, Commissioner, Secretary of State! The most important first: It is necessary to take action against authoritarian developments before it is too late. We have therefore been calling for the rule of law mechanism to be applied since it came into existence – not just because of the election result in Hungary, but because of the systematic dismantling of democracy, the rule of law and

Mr President, Commissioner, Minister! Polish women put their strollers on the border for exhausted Ukrainian mothers. Throughout Europe: Volunteer initiatives that show those fleeing the war zones that they are not alone. Finally solidarity with refugees – thank you! Europe shows that it is there for them, and we are finally showing that we can act in solidarity, socially and politically. The Temp

Madam President, esteemed representatives of the Council and the Commission, ladies and gentlemen! Let me start with a reminder: Hungary was the country where the fall of the Iron Curtain began. At that time, Hungary led Europe's freedom movement. And today? The freedom fighters of old succumbed to authoritarian temptations and turned Hungary into a facade democracy. What is important to me: Hunga

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen! If we consider what is currently happening in the EU in terms of the rule of law and fundamental rights violations, then one thing is clear: We urgently need vigilant democracies in Europe and therefore a strong civil society. We currently have to see where it leads when these are increasingly intimidated in individual Member States or when their w

Madam President, While the military regime in Sudan and its militias have nonviolently murdered demonstrators week after week, the democracy movement remains peaceful in its demands for a military resignation and the establishment of a civilian and inclusive transitional government. This democratic movement actually represents Sudan, not the military that took power. Regimes like this Sudanese mil

Madam President, Commissioner! Dear colleagues! Thank you for this important report. The aim of SLAPPs is not to question a legal opinion in a fair trial, but simply to intimidate and silence critical voices. Whether multi-groups against environmental organisations, governments against critical journalism or brand companies against animal welfare organisations - all cases have in common: It is abo

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, Europe has made itself blackmailed because we do not live up to our own moral values as soon as it matters. We provide the necessary breeding ground for the attacks of the Belarusian regime – or Turkey itself a few months ago – through the voluntary self-assembly of our European rule of law model. The EU should now act directly, the illegal Push-backs must be te

Mr President, Commissioner, esteemed representatives of the Council, ladies and gentlemen! How long can you watch if something is going in the wrong direction? A university was expelled from the country, the freedom of the press was massively reduced, hate campaigns against independent journalists were stoked, hard-won women's rights were massively curtailed, attacks against the independence of th

Madam President, Commissioner! July 28 marks the 70th anniversary of the Geneva Convention on Refugees. They have given refugees clear, human rights-based rights around the world for good reason. However, a look at the situation at our external borders shows that we do not live up to this claim in the least. European asylum policy has resulted in the most serious human rights violations: systemati