Speeches

The tragedy of children deported to Russia is dangerously reminiscent of some of the darkest pages in human history. Imagine the fear and uncertainty of these children, torn from the arms of their mothers, catapulted into a foreign country, away from their affections and imprisoned in forced re-education camps. If this is not a crime against humanity, I wonder what it might be. Putin's ambition is clear: He wants to steal Ukraine's future. The issue of future generations, ladies and gentlemen, is very dear to our Union and to all of us. We called the pandemic recovery fund ‘NextGenerationEU’, precisely to underline that today’s actions serve to create a better tomorrow. Here, with the same strength, conviction and determination, we will have to fight to give a better future to the next generations of Ukrainians, bearing in mind that they are an integral part of the next generation of Europeans, who are the future citizens of the Union. The strength of a society is measured by the way it protects its most vulnerable members. The strength of our Union will be measured exactly as follows: with the ability we will have to protect these children, giving them hope for a free future, a future in our great European family.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, the repression achieved by the 2020 National Security Law was clearly not enough for the Hong Kong authorities. It was not enough to have arbitrarily arrested thousands of activists, it was not enough to have reserved inhumane treatment for many of them, including Jeremy Lai and Andy Li. It was not enough to have forced dozens of media, newspapers and news sites to cease their activities. None of this was enough, as the dreams and ideas of freedom of the people of Hong Kong were never broken. By the same admission of Hong Kong Governor John Lee, the new National Security Act is necessary to ensure the stability of the city and eliminate ideas of independence. This is their ultimate goal. This is the result demanded by the Beijing authorities. And I think that our Europe must never allow itself to succumb to the logic of the strongest, the most repressive. I call on all the governments of the Member States to cancel the extradition treaties that still exist, to put pressure on them to make it clear that we do not accept the extradition treaty. business as usual, that we will never be silent about violations of individual freedoms so that we continue to cultivate the dream of a civil society, of supporting those dreams of the ideas of freedom that have made the name of Hong Kong great. This is my last speech in this plenary and I tell you that for standing by the people of Hong Kong to denounce China, I have also changed my party and I am proud and proud of it. Let us never stop fighting for freedom in this Parliament.

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, in recent years we have repeatedly denounced the authoritarian drift of President Aliyev, his violent, constant, incessant repression of internal dissent, the infamous blockade of the Lachin corridor, the forced exodus of the Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh and even the proclaimed alliance with Putin. Yet what has changed? Has the Baku regime revised its position? No, did you loosen your grip on internal dissidents? No. Has he made himself available for a serious and acceptable peace negotiation with Armenia? Not even. The time for sentences to words is over. The time has come to demand concrete actions, even to put on the table a sanctioning regime if these requests are not accepted, because Dr. Gubad Ibadoghlu, at this time, if he is not expatriated could also die. She needs urgent care. All political prisoners, more than 200, must be released, including Armenian prisoners incarcerated after the occupation of Nagorno-Karabakh. Aliyev's aggressive, militaristic, suffocating and dictatorial rhetoric towards the internal opposition as well as Armenia must finally cease. Let's stop treating Azerbaijan as a reliable partner. We stop sacrificing our principles and values on the altar of realpolitik. We cannot be the Europe that is strong with the weak and weak with the strong.

Madam President, High Representative, ladies and gentlemen, since the first day of the criminal invasion of the Putin regime, our history has called us to a sacrosanct choice: We stand with Ukraine. It is good to have already allocated 144 billion euros in humanitarian, financial and military aid, but we can and must do much more. We already have the tools, they are in our hands. We use the more than 300 billion euros of frozen Russian assets as legitimate compensation to be given to the Ukrainian people to support their present and future. Enough delay and tactics. Use them to strengthen the Ukraine Assistance Facility, providing those who bravely fight at the front with the necessary support to defend their freedom. Let us use them to give even more substance to the tool for Ukraine, laying the foundations for the reconstruction of the country, to give breath to the economy of Kyiv, to keep alive and relaunch its entrepreneurship, betting on the dynamism and resilience of small and medium-sized enterprises that are much more difficult for the Russians to bomb. None of our countries has the right to speak of war fatigue in the face of the immense sacrifices of the Ukrainian people: We all have a duty to do our part to support those who have been fighting for freedom for two years, not only theirs, but also ours. Slava Ukraini.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, more than 200 humanitarian workers, almost 100 journalists, more than 33,000 civilians, almost half of them just children. A hell that has lasted seven months before our eyes, a hell of brutality. But behind these cold numbers are stories, stories of atrocious suffering, broken families, children who will never become adults. And it is intolerable that hundreds more are written every day. Stalemates and tactics must end now. Negotiations for an immediate and lasting ceasefire must be resumed immediately. We need to go back to funding UNRWA before it's too late. Just as it is imperative that the first enemies of the Palestinian people, the cutthroat terrorists of Hamas, agree to the immediate release of the Israeli hostages. It is also necessary for Netanyahu to renounce the attack on Rafah, to renounce an attack that would only cause the final humanitarian collapse in the region, and to announce the withdrawal of his troops from the Gaza Strip. The leaderships on both sides have proved totally incapable of acting for the good of their peoples. Our task will be to accompany those of the future towards a true peace conference, towards the only possible solution, the political one: two free, independent States, in peace and security. Ceasefire, now!

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, we have not even had time to celebrate the historic milestone reached by Greece on 16 February with the egalitarian marriage, which the aggression in Thessaloniki has already reminded us of how deeply rooted the culture of hatred is in our Europe. I have always felt that politics should also have a pedagogical function, trying to improve society, and instead I see this side of the Chamber sadly empty, silent. And when he is not silent I see him riding the wave of intolerance. I always see this propensity to ride the differences between one of us and one of them, which exist only in your imagination, dear colleagues of the extreme right. But when will you understand that the right to be what you want, to love who you want, to make your body what you want, belongs to each of us, without distinction? Is it so difficult to accept that every human being has the absolute and inalienable right to seek his own happiness the way he wants? Stop with this witch hunt, with your ghettoizations and phobias; Stop looking for a definition of normality, which has nothing to do with human nature. How many more beatings, suicides and deaths will we have to cry before you stop fomenting hatred towards the LGBTIQ community in Greece, Italy, Europe and everywhere in the world? Homosexuality exists in 450 species, homophobia and transphobia in only one: Who is unnatural now? Let's change this culture of hate and turn it into a culture of love.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, according to the United Nations, the Afghan people are in a much worse situation today than they were in 2002. In Kabul there are no more rights, only fear, prohibitions and deprivations; In Kabul there is the full application of Sharia law and its medieval punishments. in Kabul a woman does not have the right to higher education, cannot work and cannot even leave the house unless accompanied by a man who acts as her guardian; In Kabul, homosexuality is punished by stoning. We must take responsibility for what is happening, colleagues. Of course, the twenty years of our presence have been dotted with lights and shadows, but the hasty abandonment by the Americans and us Europeans has plunged Afghanistan back into the darkness of obscurantism. We must use every means of pressure on the Taliban regime, putting everything we need on the table to make it comply with the conditionality criteria already set. And above all, we must support the Afghan people, increasing our humanitarian aid and standing by the side of civil society that dreams of a better future. Perhaps it is not yet too late to remedy, at least in part, the mistakes of the past.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, I should like to begin by expressing my sincere thanks to Mr Gahler and Mr Bullmann for submitting this question. We finally have a frank and sincere debate about our support for Tunisia, which we have been asking for too long in vain. I fully agree with the questions already asked by many colleagues, but I would like to add two more: Can we make agreements with anyone through special measures? And can we bypass this Parliament and the stringent conditionality criteria that we have always invoked? I say no. We have seen what Saïed is made of, as the National Parliament has closed lightly, cancelling all forms of dissent; Then the borders, driving hundreds of migrants back to the desert, without water or food, condemning them to certain death. We certainly need to strengthen our ties with the southern shore of the Mediterranean, starting with Tunisia, and I personally have always fought for that, but we cannot do it by bartering our principles and values. We cannot sacrifice who we are, accepting the conditions imposed by authoritarian leaders only to subcontract to them the management of migration flows. What we should do is make full use of our political, economic and diplomatic weight to put these partner countries back on the path to democracy, otherwise what role could we ever aspire to?

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, combating external interference is an increasingly urgent and crucial debate if we are to safeguard the integrity of next June's European elections. However, I have a doubt: How effective can the preventive measures that we will put in place be if in a country like mine, Italy, there is a deputy prime minister, Matteo Salvini, who categorically refuses to shed light on the state of the agreement signed by his party, the League, with Vladimir Putin's United Russia, now seven years ago? Can we really think that we can protect ourselves from Russian interference when the highest officials of a Member State consciously and culpably maintain close relations with a war criminal, even choosing to renew the agreement two weeks after the start of the criminal invasion of Ukraine? Isn't that the worst form of propaganda? My Action party has already tabled a motion of no confidence in Salvini in the Italian parliament; We will see if the rest of the majority will continue to entrench themselves behind an complicit silence. However, I ask you, dear Commissioner, would it not be appropriate to establish a transparency register for all the political forces that will be present at the next European elections, making it mandatory to clarify the agreements signed with the parties of authoritarian third States? And if verified, stop any form of funding to their European parties? Our citizens have the right to know for whom and for what they vote!

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, tomorrow's vote shows that we are once again decisive, as the European Union, in protecting the safety of our citizens, filling dangerous legal gaps and at the same time promoting effective and attractive standards at global level. Thanks to the risk-based approach and smart measures such as sandbox We leave room for innovation while governing that revolution which, if guided wisely, will bring enormous benefits to our lives. Think of the countless advances that we will achieve in medicine as well as in the fight against rare diseases, but still in economic policy, in agriculture, improving productivity and contributing to the achievement of green goals. On the other hand, we will protect ourselves by banning the most dangerous and despicable uses of generative AI, those that undermine our rights and the fundamental principles of the Union, such as biometric facial recognition and emotions, the exploitation of the most vulnerable categories, up to attempts to control decision-making processes and to counteract social exclusion. deep fake. Today we demonstrate how Europe is able to govern a dynamic comparable to a new step in human evolution, with an open approach to technological progress, and we will be able to bring this model of ours and our voice also to global fora, with our values and our freedoms always at the center, as the human being must be.

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, the risk of sabotage and attacks on submarine cables is one of the most dangerous threats to our security and our economy. This recommendation introduces some very useful innovations, starting with the creation of infrastructures of European interest to increase the connectivity of our continent. Future joint risk and vulnerability assessments. But I wonder and I ask you: Are we really doing enough? Should we not also think about what is happening beyond our borders, especially in areas of greatest instability? Just in recent days, the sabotage of submarine cables in the Red Sea has clearly shown us what the devastating impacts of such hostile actions can be. 99% of information travels under the seas, under all seas, both our own and others'. Let us build new European networks, let us guarantee their security, but let us not take refuge in the pious illusion that creating a "fortress Europe" would make us risk-free, in such an interconnected world. We launch an international coalition, together with our allies and partners who share our principles and values, and the need to defend these infrastructures, ensuring constant monitoring and protection. This is a global challenge and the response can only be global. It's not time to be hesitant: As Europeans, we can and must lead this coalition.

(IT) Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, it is shameful, absurd and aberrant to still count the deaths at work in 2024. This is what happens in Italy. The five workers who dramatically lost their lives in the Florence shipyard on 16 February are just the latest in a very long series. This year there are already 181 white deaths, while in 2023 there were more than 1000 victims, almost three per day. The point is clear: There is a total failure of the state, incapable of securing its workers. It is not enough to legislate because it is equally important to make sure that those rules are truly respected. We must roll up our sleeves and work urgently on a control system that is effective and a sanction system that is really dissuasive, especially on the issue of subcontracting, which is often used to evade those responsible for their responsibilities. It is not possible for other workers to pay with their lives for the inefficiencies of the entire work prevention system. Except for the rare fortuitous cases, the only fault of these unfortunates is that of trusting the people who have the ethical duty to protect them, including the State. No more deaths at work!

Madam President, I would like to table an oral amendment that I deem as essential to substantiate the other amendments that I have already presented on behalf of Renew Group on the establishment of the European Civil Peace Corps. The amendment reads as follows: ‘Whereas there is a need for a comprehensive peace-building approach involving civilian specialists to implement practical measures for peace; whereas local and international NGOs perform crucial conflict prevention and peaceful conflict resolution activities, and it is of the utmost importance to make the most of their experience.’ I hope I can count on your full support, dear colleagues, and that this new paragraph can be added to the text.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, it was a punch in the heart in icy Siberia that broke Alexei Navalny's life. Vladimir Putin thought, with this crime, to strike at the heart of all Russian civil society, breaking its dreams of freedom and democracy. He was wrong, because thousands of people have gathered in major Russian cities to honor his memory, and thousands will continue to do so, openly defying the authorities of the regime. We should be by their side every day: But are we really? I asked with a question to act now to save, for example, the life of Vladimir Kara-Murza. How many other heroes will we have to cry - as my colleague Mr Verhofstadt rightly said - before we adopt the sanctions of the Magnitsky Act for all those responsible for the persecution of Alexei? Before you extend them to the entire Naval'ny list of 6,000 flankers? Before seizing and donating to Ukraine all the assets of the frozen oligarch regime in Europe? Today Juljia's words have touched us deeply. We respond and we must respond to his appeal. Let us stop being boring, let us live up to Alexei's courage, if we do not want his sacrifice to become in vain. Less words, more deeds.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, do we want to be the architects of our own destiny, or do we want to reduce ourselves to being the chessboard on which other powers will play in the coming years? Enough ambiguity, enough tactics! After an absurd hibernation of almost 70 years, it is time to create a real European army. The provisions of the Strategic Compass have already been overcome by the drama of the war in Ukraine. It is necessary to immediately establish a rapid reaction force of at least 50-60 thousand units, not the 5-6 thousand currently planned. A force that is multi-domain, able to operate with asset and unity both in conventional domains, as well as in emerging ones, cyberspace over all. We need to strengthen the European defence industrial base, by increasing the European Defence Fund tenfold and by encouraging more enhanced cooperation between willing states. And finally we create a European military academy, a European headquarters, so that we have a unified strategic command for all our missions and operations. Clearly, all this will be useless if we still decide unanimously. It is therefore also necessary to move to a qualified majority immediately. This is what we need to defend Ukraine and to defend Europe. This is the time of courage, of seriousness, it is the time of action!

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, just a few months ago we hosted the Armenian Prime Minister, Nikol Pashinyan, in this House. We have listened to his clear and strong words, his legitimate demands, his willingness to pursue a European path and we have promised him all our support. Yet, it seems that nothing has really changed. We need to be clear: The green light for Armenia's participation in the European Peace Facility is important but it cannot be enough if we are to give the guarantees needed to be credible mediators at the peace table. Who would benefit most from bilateral negotiations? A military power like Azerbaijan, with unscrupulous allies willing to do anything to help it? Or a country like Armenia that is courageously entering fully into the field of Western democracies? We cannot let the force of arms prevail again; We cannot allow Armenia to bend once again. The Armenian people have already suffered too much and our Union has already missed too many appointments with history in this conflict. Baku must know that we will not tolerate any form of violation of Armenian sovereignty, that we will react harshly if you still try to jeopardize it. Yerevan, on the other hand, must know that we are ready to guarantee it with all our might, because his future is here, in the house of European democracy, within the European Union.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, as we know all too well in my country, in Italy, the subtle phenomenon of counterfeiting of so-called Italian sounding indiscriminately affects assets of around EUR 19 billion: thousands of companies that for generations proudly carry on our traditions. Only in Italy are currently recognized 578 PDO products and 257 PGI products, a number that leads us to have the primacy in the EU. Our task is to preserve these excellences both in the internal market and in foreign markets. And today, with this reform, we are doing it. We have achieved greater simplicity in the registration of geographical indications by harmonising the rules for the food, wine and spirits sectors. Increased protection of claims in the digital market, thus ensuring greater transparency for consumers. And finally, we strengthen the crucial role of consortia. But above all we put an end to phenomena of exploitation of linguistic similarities, as in the case of Prošek or Parmizan. Let this reform teach us. Today we talk about victory because we have given certainty and transparency but above all we have listened to the needs of our productive territorial realities. Always listen to them and we will never lose.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, Iran is the country in the world with the highest rate of executions, a hell where no one can feel safe from arbitrary violence and persecution by the regime. This is demonstrated by the case of Mohammad Ghobadlou. I am proud to have contributed the Sakharov Prize to the memory of Mahsa Amini and the "Woman, Life, Freedom" movement. But a prestigious award is not enough, because without concrete actions only a rusting plaque will remain, meaningless. Continuing to actively support the struggle of millions of women and men who fight strenuously every day for their freedom, often at the cost of their own lives, is a duty for us, both in Iran and in our own Europe. Yes, because murders, kidnappings and intimidation also happen every day against the Iranian diaspora. Khamenei's bloody regime extends its tentacles far beyond national borders. We have to protect and support these activists. That is why I have invited the young people of this diaspora, of the Iranian diaspora in Italy, to the European Parliament, so that they feel this support, so that they know that Europe will always be with them and will be the voice of those who have no voice. Woman, life, freedom today... (The President took the floor from the speaker)

(IT) Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, night raids, interrogations in inhumane conditions, forced labour, retaliation against family members and anyone who has offered help to the almost 1 500 political prisoners. The modus operandi of the Belarusian State Security Committee, the infamous KGB, is frighteningly reminiscent of that of its eponymous predecessor. Lukashenko's active complicity in the criminal invasion of Ukraine is irrefutable proof of how much we still have to fight today. That is why I strongly call on the Council and all Member States to immediately impose further sanctions on those who commit these intolerable crimes on a daily basis, trampling on human rights, and to make every effort to ensure that the perpetrators go to the International Criminal Court. Belarus cannot be relegated to a periphery subject to Moscow's criminal imperial ambitions. Putin and Lukashenko must be absolutely certain of this. We will fight alongside its civil society until it is a free and democratic member state of the European Union, until the red and white flag flies in Minsk. Your freedom is our freedom.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, it is still incredible to hear some of you say, especially from the benches of this side of the Chamber, that this debate is useless and superfluous and, even worse, a wrong debate. I would like to ask you – if you were here in the Chamber and you are not – where do you live, colleagues? Do you really need the Eurobarometer to understand that, in today's Europe, more than one in two citizens feel the weight of discrimination every day, feel the poison of hatred towards their freedom to choose their sexual identity, their sexual orientation? How many other young suicides will we have to cry to make you understand that everyone has the right to love and be what he wants? In Italy, in my country, the recognition of the adopted children of homogeneous couples is no longer allowed and the governor of my region, Lazio, has revoked the patronage of Pride without any scruples. This is the right-wing government in Italy. As vice-president of the LGBTI rights intergroup, I am proud to be able to vote and debate on this implementation, a strategy we have wanted for twenty years. I am proud to be engaged in this battle and I will not stop and we will not stop until we are truly all equal, without distinction. Amor vincit omnia.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, as we speak in this Chamber, a specter is creeping around our cities: Russian misinformation. A threat that grows every day, increasingly suffocating, sneaky and dangerous. Putin's goal is to disintegrate from within, undermining our democratic institutions, eroding our rule of law and even manipulating the minds of future generations of European citizens. Not more than three months ago, an Italian association, ‘Vento dell’Est’, chaired by a former activist of the neo-fascist Casa Pound party, and a fervent admirer of Putin, organised an event steeped in Russian propaganda in a high school in Aprilia, a city in my region, Lazio, a stone's throw from my home. The most striking paradox is that this disinformation event was funded with the European Social Fund, with our European taxpayers' money. I have put a question to the European Commission to make sure that such nonsense should never be repeated. The criminal invasion of Ukraine should have made us understand that there is no room for ambiguity and naivety, that there is not only an external front, but also an internal front within our Europe. It is time to launch a European action plan in every single Member State, especially in Italy, the soft underbelly of our continent, to protect our democracy, starting with the next European elections, if we do not want Putin to emerge victorious from the polls. The age of waiting is over, today is the time of action.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, two years, 24 months of bombs, violence and terror inflicted on an innocent people only to satisfy the thirst for power of a tyrannical and criminal regime. Supporting Kiev with all our might is a moral duty, but it is also an existential challenge for the future of our Union. I thank you, Mr von der Leyen, for your clear, strong and determined words today, because it is determination, courage and timing that we need. That's why the $5 billion increase in European Peace Facility It's needed now, because the ammunition at the front is needed now. That is why we must confiscate, sell and donate all frozen Russian assets in Europe to Kiev, to support the resistance now. That is why we must not allow any European government to blackmail us, starting with that of Viktor Orbán. Article 7 must be activated without fear now, because those who do not defend European values do not deserve to be defended by our Union. Putin must know that we will not be afraid, that we will not hesitate, that we will support the Ukrainian people and their sovereignty and freedom with all our strength and that very soon Ukraine will be our 28th member state. Because there is no Ukraine without Europe, but there is also no Europe without Ukraine. Slava Ukraini!

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, this is 2024, the 21st century. The European elections are just around the corner, yet in my country, Italy, almost 5 million people, 10% of those entitled to vote, are at risk of not being able to vote. It is an injustice that particularly affects young people aged 18 to 35, young people who, by choice or necessity, live outside their municipality of residence, in Italy or abroad, for study or work. Trampling on the spirit of the Treaties, the Charter of Nice and, again, the European Electoral Act, Italy is still the only major European country to have not introduced any postal voting mechanism, neither by delegation nor, let alone, online. I am a child of the Erasmus generation. I was studying in France in 2008, when, for the same exact reason, I unfortunately had to lose my only election. Sixteen years later, nothing has changed. Just so many promises. Today, in this House, I bring the voice of these millions of girls and boys who can no longer wait, who must not be deprived once again of their right to choose their representatives, and perhaps even of the joy of the first vote. I will put an urgent question to the European Commission asking it to act as a matter of urgency, reminding the Italian Government of its responsibilities. The minimum is to immediately introduce a full reimbursement of travel expenses. I will fight in this House and Action will fight in every institution until they are finally granted the right to have rights.

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, nine months of fratricidal struggle have made Sudan the country with the highest number of internal refugees in the world, causing a terrifying food crisis and 7.5 million refugees. Our Union certainly needs to increase humanitarian support, but that is not enough, because the problem is actually another one: We must ensure that international organisations, which are now virtually all forced to evacuate their personnel, can return to ensure that any humanitarian aid is delivered safely on the ground. It is therefore necessary to find a mediation between the parties to the conflict, also threatening very heavy sanctions against those who are staining themselves with war crimes and against humanity, but placing respect for international humanitarian law as a first and indispensable condition. Yesterday, unfortunately, the possibility that the African Union could be an honest broker faded. Now we must quickly find a credible alternative; We can and must act with all our diplomatic tools and political weight to play the leading role. I ask, however, that this negotiating table with the regional partners be swift and that this barbarism be stopped quickly, without choosing the classic model of "throw money at the problem", because this will not be enough to solve the problem, nor to wash our consciences. Time is running too fast, we can't afford to lose more.

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, for 25 years now, the Beijing authorities have started a real persecution against Falun Gong followers, but also against the Uyghurs, the Rohingya, the Kashmiris and the Tibetans. There are real witch hunts against minorities and ethnic groups of medieval mold, but perpetrated with the help of increasingly oppressive futuristic technologies that seem to come out of the famous novel 1984 by George Orwell. A terrifying commission, which led to the disappearance of tens of thousands of people. In the face of these crimes there should be no other possibility than a firm, clear and unequivocal condemnation. We should all call for an international investigation into the criminal trade in organs and very harsh sanctions against the officials and authorities responsible. And instead, in our Europe and also in Italy, there are those who persist in defending their failed choice to join the Silk Road, but also to keep away from any kind of criticism of the work of Beijing. This silence does not surprise me. The king, however, is naked and, in the face of these atrocities, either we defend our values and human rights without if and without but, or we choose the path of complicity, because silence, in fact, is an complicity and this Parliament, I ask this again this evening, silent must never be! Always at the side of those who fight for freedom and for the right to exist.