Speeches

Thank you very much, dear Leniie. Thank you very, very much. I now pass the floor to Ukrainian frontline medical volunteer and humanitarian activist Tata Kepler.

Dear colleagues, honourable guests, dear Sviatlana, Palina, Leniie and Tata, thank you for joining us as we mark International Women's Day. I am proud that this House has, and will always be, a force for democracy, equality and solidarity. Today we pay tribute to the courageous women across Europe who are standing up for the values so many of us far too often take for granted. Women who embody the spirit of courage, defiance and the audacity to believe in a better world, who are on the front lines of the struggle for a future of freedom, who are putting everything on the line as they refuse to give up on what they believe in: Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, leader of the democratic forces of Belarus; Palina Sharenda-Panasiuk, a former political prisoner in Belarus; Leniie Umerova, a former political prisoner from Crimea, and Tata Kepler, a Ukrainian medical volunteer and activist. Dear friends, dear ladies, your brave actions are an inspiration to this House and to all who cherish liberty everywhere. Thank you for being an example for girls and boys across Europe and the world. Thank you. (Applause) In Ukraine today, hundreds of women and men are fighting every day for that dream of peace and freedom. We know their sacrifice and we honour what they stand for. In Belarus, too many women and men are arbitrarily imprisoned and denied their rights under the boot of dictatorship. We know what they have given up and their plight is not forgotten. So Sviatlana, Palina, Leniie, Tata, thank you. This House thanks you. Europe thanks you. I now pass the floor to my friend and a force that the world needs to hear more of, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya.

Now I give the floor to the President of the European Council. Mr Procaccini, can I give the floor to the President of the European Council first, because he has just arrived?

Good morning, dear colleagues. The first item on the agenda is a joint debate concerning European Council meetings and European security: – European Council and Commission statements on the conclusions of the special European Council meeting of 6 March 2025 (2025/2589(RSP)); – Council and Commission statements on preparation of the European Council of 20-21 March 2025 (2025/2544(RSP)); – European Council and Commission statements on European security architecture: urgent decisive steps and unwavering support for Ukraine (2025/2590(RSP)). The President of the European Council is on his way. He was delayed by fog in Brussels, so as soon as he lands he will come straight to the Chamber. So we can go first to the Council and the Minister for the European Union, Adam Szłapka.

I have received requests from the competent authorities in Belgium for the parliamentary immunity of Elisabetta Gualmini and Alessandra Moretti to be waived. These requests are referred to the Committee on Legal Affairs.

Thank you. There is an issue with the timing here because, with the deadlines we have, the title cannot be changed. So we vote on the Greens' request by a show of hands. (Parliament approved the request) The agenda is now adopted and the order of business is thus established.

Thank you very much. So let's put the group's request to a vote by roll call. (Parliament rejected the request) So the agenda remains unchanged. The final request is from the Greens/EFA Group. For Wednesday, it has requested that a Commission statement on 'Secessionist threats in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the recent escalation' be added as the last point in the afternoon. As a consequence, the sitting would be extended to 11 p.m. I give the floor to Ms Strick to move this request on behalf of the Green Group.

Thank you very much. Let's see how we take it. We have also a debate on this matter, and I ask all the Members to speak also during that debate.

On Wednesday, 5 March 2025, the Conference of Presidents adopted the proposal for the calendar of part-sessions for the parliamentary year 2026. The dates are available on the plenary webpage and the deadlines are as follows: amendments, today at 7 p.m.; roll-call votes, Tuesday, 11 March at 4 p.m. The vote will then take place on Wednesday, 12 March at noon. ⁂ I would like to inform the House that I have received multiple requests for points of order. I will go through them one by one. First, I give the floor to Ms Iratxe García Pérez.

I would also like to announce that, pursuant to Rule 47(2), I have declared admissible two proposals for a Union act. The first is on employment protection for the activities of police officers, military personnel, prison officers, and customs and border officials, classifying them as high-risk occupations in the EU. The proposal is referred to the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs. The second is on the need to extend the period for implementation of the Recovery and Resilience Facility. This proposal is referred to the Committee on Budgets and the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs, as committees responsible, and to the Committee on Employment, the Committee on the Environment, the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy and the Committee on Transport and Tourism, for opinion.

The LIBE and ENVI committees have transmitted corrigenda to texts adopted by Parliament. Pursuant to Rule 251, these corrigenda will be deemed approved unless, no later than 24 hours after their announcement, a request is made by a political group or Members reaching at least the low threshold that they be put to the vote. The corrigenda are available on the plenary webpage. Their titles will be published in the minutes of this sitting.

The ECR and Greens/EFA groups and non-attached Members have notified me of decisions relating to changes to appointments within committees and delegations. These decisions will be set out in the minutes of today's sitting and take effect on the date of this announcement.

Good afternoon, dear colleagues. We start with a few announcements on my side. First of all, dear colleagues, two years ago, on 28 February 2023, in Tempi, Greece, a tragic railway accident cost 57 people their lives and injured even more. We mark a sad anniversary today as our hearts go out to the victims, to those who lost their loved ones and to the injured who still bear the scars of that day. This House remembers them and honours them. Over the coming months, we will celebrate also the 35th anniversary of the assertion of state continuity of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, enshrining their independence de jure under international law throughout different illegal occupations and annexations of the 20th century. These anniversaries remind us again of the sacrifice of so many for the liberty that we enjoy today, and underscore our determination never to allow another generation of Europeans to be lost behind an Iron Curtain. Tomorrow at noon, we will once again welcome national leader of Belarus, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, to this plenary, along with other brave women from Ukraine and Belarus, who are standing up for liberty in order to mark International Women's Day. May I ask that you are present. I count on you and your colleagues to be here then, because this week will also serve to reaffirm this House's steadfast support for the people of Belarus and their struggle for freedom, including political prisoners. And to express this solidarity and to mark the International Day of Solidarity with Belarus, the European Parliament is once again offering you, as Members of this Parliament, the opportunity to sign postcards addressed to the 1 250 political prisoners who are unfairly imprisoned by Lukashenka's regime. I urge you to join in this action to show them that their sacrifice will not remain unanswered. Last year, this initiative was extremely successful – in the previous mandate, in the previous Parliament. I ask that we make this year's even more so. We know their names, we see their struggle and we stand with them. So this message and this initiative will send the strongest of messages that they are not alone. (Applause)

The next item on the agenda is the debate on the Commission statement on the Commission Work Programme for 2025 (2025/2500(RSP)). I would like to remind you that we will continue with the test of the new format in this debate, and there will be no fixed speakers list. So what will happen is that after the first round of speakers, on behalf of the groups, Members who received speaking time from their political groups or the Non‑attached Secretariat will be called to speak and will be reminded of their allotted speaking time. Keep an eye on the screens where the current speaker, but also the next three speakers, will be displayed, so you'll have a little bit of time to prepare. Then, of course, when your name appears, please come to the lectern. The normal rules regarding blue cards and catch‑the‑eye will apply during the debate. We will have a look at the time towards the end, but I expect quite a lively debate. There is a point of order.

There is one communication from my end in relation to the joint decision by the AFET and BUDG Committees to enter interinstitutional negotiations pursuant to Rule 72(1) announced at the opening of the part‑session on Monday, 10 February, I have received no request for a vote in Parliament by Members or a political group or groups reaching at least the medium threshold, so the committees may therefore start the negotiations.

The next vote is on the report by Borys Budka on the renewal of the agreement on cooperation in science and technology between the European Community and Ukraine (see minutes, item 7.3).

The next vote is on the report by Paulo do Nascimento Cabral on the conclusion, on behalf of the Union, of the Protocol (2024-2029) implementing the Fisheries Partnership Agreement between the European Community and the Republic of Cabo Verde (see minutes, item 7.2).

Dear colleagues, it is my great honour to welcome to the European Parliament our dear friend Ruslan Stefanchuk, Chairman of Ukraine's Verkhovna Rada. Welcome. (Applause) This month marks three years since Russia launched its brutal, illegal and unprovoked full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Yet, as we enter the fourth winter of war, the world has witnessed the Ukrainian people rise up with courage, with defiance, with an unshakeable determination to defend their land and their freedom against all odds. I am proud that this Parliament has stood with Ukraine from the very first moment – united, unwavering and resolute. And our partnership with the Verkhovna Rada has been critical in deepening our ties with the Ukrainian people and preparing Ukraine for its path towards membership. We will keep pushing for peace, but we must not let go of what we mean by peace. Peace must be just. Peace must be dignified. And it must be based on the principle of 'nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine'. (Applause) And for that Ukraine must be in a position of strength. And that means Europe must do more. More financial support. More military aid. More diplomatic pressure. More humanitarian assistance. Because we know that the defence of Ukraine is also the defence of Europe. This is not just an attack on Ukraine. It is an attack on democracy, our way of life, on Europe. So, it is my great pleasure to give the floor to you, dear Ruslan Stefanchuk, Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada.