What Ilhan spoke about.

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EN Written Statement

The Commission’s 2025 Rule of Law report (debate)

The annual Rule of Law report is an important tool, that aims to prevent democratic backsliding and uphold the founding principles of our Union. Yet, it still lacks some of the elements we would like to see, particularly regarding its impact. As Chair of the Legal Affairs Committee, but more importantly – as a Bulgarian citizen, I cannot underline more the importance of monitoring judicial indepen…

16

Jun

2026

BG Speech

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An EU future for the Western Balkans (joint debate)

16

Jun

2026

BG Answer

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2025 Commission report on Türkiye (debate)

16

Jun

2026

BG Speech

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2025 Commission report on Türkiye (debate)

21

May

2026

EN Speech

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European Citizens’ Initiative ‘Stop destroying videogames’ (debate)

Madam President, Commissioner, honourable colleagues, on 16 April, JURI and IMCO, in association with PETI, held a joint public hearing on the European Citizens' Initiative 'Stop Destroying Videogames'. We had a constructive and forward-looking discussion with the EU on the expertise of the organisers of this initiative, who are dedicated in mobilising to shape the EU's legislative agenda. Video g…

19

May

2026

EN Speech

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EU–Uzbekistan Enhanced Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (joint debate)

I wanted to thank all the colleagues across the political groups for the substantive and constructive debate, and particularly the shadow rapporteurs for their very deep engagement all the way through the process. Indeed, tonight's discussions demonstrate something important, while here may be different emphasis and different political sensitivities in this Parliament, there is nevertheless a broa…

19

May

2026

EN Speech

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EU–Uzbekistan Enhanced Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (joint debate)

Mr President, Madam High Representative, dear colleagues, this House is not simply discussing an agreement – we are making a strategic statement about Europeans' role in a changing world. The enhanced partnership and cooperation agreement with Uzbekistan comes at a moment of profound geopolitical transformation, global fragmentation and accelerating geopolitical tensions. Russia's war against Ukra…

28

Apr

2026

EN Speech

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Monitoring the application of European Union law in 2023, 2024 and 2025 (debate)

Madam President, dear Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, dear colleagues, I would like to start my speech by congratulating Mr Žalimas for the constructive and comprehensive report. As the report outlines, we believe that, first and foremost, legislation must always reflect our shared fundamental values – democracy, human rights and the rule of law – which are essential for strengthening mutual t…

28

Apr

2026

EN Speech

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Joint debate - Discharge 2024 (joint debate)

Mr President, Commissioner, Madam Minister, ladies and gentlemen, let me emphasise the main points on behalf of the JURI opinion on the discharge in respect of the Court of Justice of the European Union. The JURI Committee underlined the very high budgetary implementation rate, which was 98 %. JURI noted that the number of cases continue to increase. There was a slight increase in the average leng…

10

Mar

2026

BG Speech

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EU enlargement strategy (debate)

Mr President, Commissioner, the report by my colleague Petras Auštrevičius highlights certain elements already known in enlargement policy, namely that it contributes to European well-being, opens up space for greater socialisation, for building a European model of inclusion for countries that are on the path to European integration. These are the positive moments that we all managed to see at the…

11

Feb

2026

EN Speech

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Accession of Montenegro to the Convention of 2 July 2019 on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Judgments in Civil or Commercial Matters - Accession of the Republic of Albania to the Convention of 2 July 2019 on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Judgments in Civil or Commercial Matters (joint debate)

Mr President, dear Commissioner, dear colleagues, today I am presenting, on behalf of the Legal Affairs Committee, two oral questions – one for Albania and the other for Montenegro. Tomorrow the plenary will be voting on the respective motions for resolutions. Let me be brief. We have two main objectives here, dear colleagues. First, this is our opportunity to send a message of support for the acc…

9

Feb

2026

BG Speech

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One-minute speeches on matters of political importance

20

Jan

2026

BG Speech

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Human rights and democracy in the world and the European Union’s policy on the matter – annual report 2025 (debate)

Madam President, High Representative, Members, we often ask ourselves these days: Why is the world falling apart? The world we know is falling apart not because there are no rules, but because there is no will to protect them. International law, the backbone of the post-war order, is now subject to systematic erosion, and the report on human rights and democracy describes it very clearly. He calls…

19

Jan

2026

BG Answer

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The 28th Regime: a new legal framework for innovative companies (debate)

I thank my colleague for the question. One of the reasons, of course, why European companies are not successful on European soil is that we are not doing well enough with bureaucracy. This type of proposals makes it possible for the bureaucracy to be smaller and for these European companies not to leave our territory, but to develop right here, because the necessary actions need to be made. And ye…

19

Jan

2026

EN Speech

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The 28th Regime: a new legal framework for innovative companies (debate)

Madam President, Commissioner, dear colleagues, a unified 28th Regime aiming to remove national barriers and divergent procedures is an important instrument to strengthen Europe's competitiveness, technological sovereignty and internal market cohesion. The 28th Regime offers a modern, simple, digital, EU‑wide company forum for overcoming the costly and complex patchwork of 27 different corporate r…

22

Oct

2025

BG Speech

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The ongoing assault on the democratic institutions and the rule of law in Bulgaria (topical debate)

Madam President, this debate is not against Bulgaria, but is a signal of solidarity towards Bulgarian society. The European Parliament, as we all know, is not a court and does not aim to stigmatise Bulgarian citizens today. Now let's get to the point. The rule of law is not an abstraction, but the feeling of every person that he lives in a just state. When a journalist, a mayor or just a citizen l…

21

Oct

2025

EN Speech

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General budget of the European Union for the financial year 2026 – all sections (debate)

Madam President, dear Commissioner, dear Minister, thank you very much, Mr Halicki and Mr Nemec, for bringing together all the diverse positions of the European Parliament. Allow me to present my committee's priority. The 2026 statement of estimates of the Court of Justice of the European Union requests the creation of 10 new permanent posts to meet Cybersecurity Regulation obligations. The Commis…

21

Oct

2025

BG Speech

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Institutional consequences of the EU enlargement negotiations (debate)

Mr President, Mrs Koss, in a world where there is a definite lack of ideas for the future, this report comes at the right time, because Mr Gozi's report answers the very complex question of how to do both: and to enlarge the European Union, something we need, and at the same time to make the necessary reforms so that the European Union meets the expectations of its own citizens not in the 20th cen…

7

Oct

2025

BG Speech

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The EU’s role in supporting the recent peace efforts for Gaza and a two-state solution (debate)

Mr President, today we cannot afford to talk about Gaza the same empty words with which the world has been trying to lighten its conscience for decades. As we discuss, people die, and the humanitarian catastrophe grows before our eyes. In recent days, thousands have taken to the streets of European cities, from Barcelona and Rome to Sofia, to say that human life cannot be a bargaining chip for pol…

8

Jul

2025

BG Speech

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2023 and 2024 reports on Albania (debate)

Madam President, first of all, I would like to congratulate the rapporteur, Mr Schiller, on the very adequate positions that can definitely serve as a good basis for the European Parliament. Of course, Albania shows an unwavering commitment to integrating into the European Union. We see the clear positions of both the government and the opposition in Tirana. This unwavering commitment is also very…

19

Jun

2025

EN Speech

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The United Kingdom accession to the Convention of 2 July 2019 on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Judgments in Civil or Commercial Matters (debate)

Mr President, Madam Commissioner, dear colleagues, on 27 June 2024, the United Kingdom signed and ratified the Convention of 2 July 2019 on the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments in civil or commercial matters, known as the Judgments Convention, which has also been signed by Uruguay, Israel, Costa Rica, Russia, the United States and Ukraine. The Judgments Convention entered into forc…

19

Jun

2025

BG Speech

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Institutional and political implications of the EU enlargement process and global challenges (debate)

Commissioner, since the beginning of the debate, I have been trying to understand what this debate is not about: it is not for or against enlargement policy, it is not for Ukraine, it is not for Turkey, it is not for the readiness of the Member States to be part of the European Union. It's about something else: on the institutional and political readiness of the European Union to admit new Member …

18

Jun

2025

BG Speech

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Stopping the genocide in Gaza: time for EU sanctions (topical debate)

Madam President, blood is spilling again in Gaza. Less than 24 hours ago, 51 people were killed after Israeli forces opened fire near a humanitarian aid site. They searched for bread and found death. Today, the world is watching war eat up everything human. We watch children die and homes collapse. This is not just a military conflict, it is a deliberate destruction, stamped with the complicity of…

17

Jun

2025

BG Speech

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The Commission’s 2024 Rule of Law report (debate)

Madam President, first of all, of course, I would like to thank the rapporteur, Mrs Mendes. Of course, I agree with the position of Commissioner McGrath, who says that this report must do everything possible to prevent fundamental principles being violated in the European Union, and it was created as such. But from the Committee on Legal Affairs, we have a few recommendations. Our first recommenda…

6

May

2025

EN Speech

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2023 and 2024 reports on Kosovo (debate)

Mr President, Madam Commissioner, dear colleagues, as the new Europe shadow rapporteur on Kosovo's progress report, I welcome this comprehensive assessment of Kosovo's achievements and ongoing challenges and I would like to use this opportunity to congratulate the rapporteur for his very hard work. Kosovo has demonstrated a clear commitment to European integration with strong public support for EU…