What David spoke about.

18

Apr

2023

EN Speech

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Situation in Peru (debate)

Mr President, Peru, as we have heard from so many speakers tonight, is a key partner for the European Union, and we want to deepen and strengthen our close and long-standing relations with this country on the basis of the memorandum of understanding that was signed in October last year. All of us are very concerned by the social unrest and the political instability that Peru has been going through…

29

Mar

2023

EN Speech

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Formal sitting - Ceremony on the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, dear colleagues, as just rightly described by our three Presidents, the troubles in Northern Ireland were one of the darkest chapters in recent European history. For the longest time, deep historic rifts between unionists and nationalists made any negotiations for lasting peace seemingly impossible. With the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday (Belfast) Agree…

14

Mar

2023

EN Speech

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Implementation report on the Agreement on the withdrawal of the UK from the EU - The Windsor Framework (debate)

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, dear colleagues, over the past two years of relations between the United Kingdom and the European Union were shaped by challenges that have indeed emerged in the implementation of the Protocol on Ireland and Northern Ireland. Particularly at a time of serious geopolitical challenges, a stable and trustful cooperation is crucial. For this reason, like many other …

14

Mar

2023

DE Speech

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The challenges facing the Republic of Moldova (debate)

Mr President, Commissioner! In recent months, the Republic of Moldova has increasingly become the target of Russian interference. The economic situation is tense and the security environment is fragile. Moscow is restricting energy supplies and trying to destabilize the pro-European government through orchestrated protests. The objective is clear and many previous speakers have already mentioned t…

19

Jan

2023

EN Speech

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The Global Gateway Initiative (debate)

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, more than one year has passed since the Commission put forward the Global Gateway – let me thank President Ursula von der Leyen for her leadership. In that one year, geopolitics have changed significantly, as many speakers have pointed out. It is now more important than ever to ensure that the European Union provides an instrument and an investment…

17

Jan

2023

EN Speech

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“The Road to 2023” - Towards a stronger EU-Latin America partnership (debate)

Madam President, Commissioner Reynders, ladies and gentlemen, I’m enjoying this midnight session. The relations between the European Union and Latin America are not just a priority for some European countries because of their traditional bilateral relations: this partnership is a priority for the entire European Union as a whole and strategically important to strengthen the international rules—bas…

17

Jan

2023

DE Speech

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Implementation of the common foreign and security policy - annual report 2022 - Implementation of the common security and defence policy - annual report 2022 (debate)

Mr President! I will not even begin by summarising the debate we have had here this afternoon or this evening. I would like to say that I have heard very good contributions from many colleagues here. I would also point out that I thought and still believe that a number of interventions from the very left and the very right margins of this Parliament were extremely strange. I would like to underlin…

17

Jan

2023

EN Speech

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Implementation of the common foreign and security policy - annual report 2022 - Implementation of the common security and defence policy - annual report 2022 (debate)

Madam President, thank you for giving me the floor. High Representative / Vice-President Josep Borrell, dear colleagues, I remember how we adopted last year’s common foreign and security policy report, it was on the 16th of February and just a few days later, the world changed significantly. Since the 24th of February, war is back in Europe. We are living in a moment of geopolitical redefinition, …

13

Dec

2022

EN Speech

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ASEAN relations ahead of the EU-ASEAN summit in December 2022 (debate)

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, dear colleagues, tomorrow, as so many speakers have mentioned, our heads of state and government are commemorating 45 years of the partnership between ASEAN and the European Union, a partnership that was upgraded to a strategic level just two years ago. If the relationship between the two most advanced and integrated regional organisations in the world really…

13

Dec

2022

EN Speech

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Annual implementing report on the EU association agreement with Georgia (debate)

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, Georgia is part of Europe. Georgia belongs to Europe. But as we have heard tonight, to be granted EU candidate status, Georgia needs to successfully address the 12 key priorities indicated by the Commission. The Georgian bid for membership will continue to be assessed based on its own merits and its success in implementing all the necessary reforms. Unfortuna…

13

Dec

2022

EN Speech

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Suspicions of corruption from Qatar and the broader need for transparency and accountability in the European institutions (debate) (debate)

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, dear colleagues, trust in our Parliament’s integrity and the rule of law are paramount for the functioning of European democracy. The European Parliament must conduct a policy of zero tolerance towards corruption. For this reason, I am appalled that four people closely connected to the European Parliament, including one of its vice presidents, were arrested by t…

22

Nov

2022

DE Speech

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EU response to the increasing crackdown on protests in Iran (debate)

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen. Commissioner Várhelyi has just described the situation in Iran; There is nothing to add to that. The Islamist mullahs regime uses repression as a means of its own survival. But in view of this development, which the Commissioner has described, I believe that the European Union must finally put its policy on Iran to the test and further increase …

22

Nov

2022

EN Speech

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EU-China relations (debate)

Madam President, High Representative/Vice-President, ladies and gentlemen, as a number of colleagues have pointed out in tonight’s debate, the relations between the People’s Republic of China and the European Union have been affected by so many different items – disproportionate counter-sanctions, cases of economic coercion and Chinese convergence with Russia, just to name a few. China is the only…

19

Oct

2022

EN Speech

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Outcome of the first meeting of the European Political Community (debate)

Madam President, Commissioner Várhelyi, Minister Bek, ladies and gentlemen, dear colleagues, Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine has been a wake-up call for all of us. In this context, it is crucial that we intensify our relations with our strategic partners all over the globe, and especially with our like-minded neighbours in Europe. In this regard, I very much welcome the inaugural meetin…

19

Oct

2022

EN Speech

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EU-Western Balkans relations in light of the new enlargement package (debate)

Madam President, Commissioner Várhelyi, ladies and gentlemen, dear colleagues, Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine has forced us to rethink our commitments and policies, including on enlargement. With Ukraine and Moldova having been granted candidate status and Georgia having been granted a European perspective, there are now ten countries in total that have embarked upon a path towards the…

4

Oct

2022

EN Speech

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The EU’s strategic relationship and partnership with the Horn of Africa (debate)

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, dear colleagues, Commissioner Urpilainen, as you just mentioned, a delegation of the Foreign Affairs Committee travelled to Ethiopia and Sudan just two weeks ago, and we were able to observe first-hand that insecurity in the Horn of Africa is a serious threat to the prospects of the whole of Africa, as well as to our own security in the European Union. Coming…

4

Oct

2022

EN Speech

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The death of Mahsa Amini and the repression of women's rights protesters in Iran (debate)

Mr President, Mr High Representative/Vice President, ladies and gentlemen, dear colleagues, the massive protests that erupted following the death of Mahsa Amini in police custody have spread to 171 cities in all 31 provinces of Iran. The people are protesting against a deeply corrupt and violent regime that systematically oppresses women and responds to political resistance with brutal violence an…

13

Sep

2022

EN Speech

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Renewed partnership with the Southern Neighbourhood – a new agenda for the Mediterranean (debate)

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, Dear Commissioner Olivér Várhelyi, allow me, first of all, to thank our colleague Antonio López-Istúriz White for his excellent report and also for his very concrete recommendations to the Commission and the Vice-President High Representative: how to renew the partnership with our Southern Neighbourhood. As Mr López-Istúriz White’s report outlines, it is key …

13

Sep

2022

EN Speech

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The situation in the Strait of Taiwan (debate)

As many colleagues have underlined, I also condemn the unprecedented level of the PRC’s military exercises in the Taiwan Strait. In addition to these militarily threatening gestures, the communist government in Beijing is employing economic and political means, as well as cyberattacks and disinformation campaigns against Taiwan. But stability in the Taiwan Strait is directly linked to our European…

6

Jul

2022

EN Speech

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The UK government’s unilateral introduction of the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill and respect for international law (debate)

Mr President, the Northern Ireland Protocol bill tabled by the United Kingdom Government is a regrettable unilateral move. As it dis—applies core elements of the Protocol in Ireland and Northern Ireland, it creates more difficulties in Northern Ireland and undermines mutual trust. Unilateral actions deliberately contradicting an international agreement are not the way forward. The Withdrawal Agree…

5

Jul

2022

EN Speech

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The EU and the defence of multilateralism (debate)

Madam President, Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine has been a wake-up call for all of us in the European Union. This war is a defining event for the future of our common foreign and security policy. Many challenges, as colleagues have already pointed out, lie ahead of us in this new era marked by increasing strategic competition, as well as a continued erosion of the rules-based internati…

8

Jun

2022

EN Speech

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The EU’s Foreign, Security and Defence Policy after the Russian invasion of Ukraine (A9-0164/2022 - David McAllister, Nathalie Loiseau) (vote)

Mr President, as I have communicated to the co-rapporteur Nathalie Loiseau, to the shadow rapporteurs and to the plenary services yesterday, I would like to propose an oral amendment to update the title of this recommendation. It shall be named ‘The EU's foreign security and defence policy after the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine’. Colleagues, over the past weeks, we have used the term …

7

Jun

2022

EN Speech

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The EU’s Foreign, Security and Defence Policy after the Russian invasion of Ukraine (debate)

Mr President, since Natalie Loiseau is not in the plenary I guess it’s up to me to sum up this debate. I would, first of all, like to thank all of you for an open, constructive and fruitful debate. We heard a lot of support and praise from the centre of the European Parliament and some criticism from the very far left and the very far right. I would like to share the observation of many MEPs, and …

7

Jun

2022

EN Speech

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The EU’s Foreign, Security and Defence Policy after the Russian invasion of Ukraine (debate)

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, the world is going through a period of geopolitical redefinition. The issues raised by Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine go far beyond the tragic situation we are currently witnessing: Europe as a whole is challenged. For a very long time, our Parliament has been advocating for a stronger, more effective and more coherent common foreign security and def…

6

Jun

2022

EN Speech

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The EU and the security challenges in the Indo-Pacific (debate)

Mr President, Commissioner Várhelyi was very precise and I will be just as brief. I would like to thank all colleagues for their contributions. I thought this was a constructive debate and having listened carefully to all the contributions, let me try to summarise. I guess most of us do agree that for us in the European Union, the Indo-Pacific offers great opportunities, but indeed also poses many…