Speeches

Mr President, 200 million Europeans already have an EU Digital COVID Certificate. It's on our phone and it's a great thing! From the beginning, together with our political faction, I appealed to us to have a simple solution that will open up Europe for us, a ticket through Europe without further restrictions. But what is the practice? Slovakia first announced the closure of border crossings to take it back immediately. However, unvaccinated arrivals will be quarantined with the EU Digital COVID Certificate. Croatia changes the entry conditions in a matter of hours. The confusion is growing. If this goes on, we'll need to navigate through stamps and regulations to travel through Europe. So my appeal today goes to the Member States: Please, let's not be surprised! Try to achieve maximum freedom of movement in Europe. That was our goal from the beginning, and that's what we promised our citizens.

Madam President, Mr High Representative, Nicaraguans are suffering a lot. They are seeing their few remaining rights taken away as their country becomes a pure and hard dictatorship. Journalists, opposition politicians, activists. Their families fear for their freedom. Nicaragua is becoming a Venezuela, a country under a brutal regime where more than five million people have already emigrated. And this same tragedy could happen soon in Nicaragua. But there's a difference. Unlike Venezuela, the European Union does have an Association Agreement with Nicaragua. We must use this tool to pressure the regime. The European Union has to suspend the agreement with Nicaragua now. Until President Ortega ends the repression and calls for free democratic elections. We can't stand by.