What Georgios spoke about.

12

Mar

2024

EL Speech

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Council and Commission statements - Preparation of the European Council meeting of 21 and 22 March 2024 (debate)

Mr President, we are faced with problems which have been created or aggravated by the responsibility of some who today remembered the solutions. The worst part is that, judging by Mrs von der Leyen's absence, they do not want to hear and learn. Defence spending has decreased. A typical example is Germany; The defence minister, Mrs von der Leyen, accounted for 1.2% of gross domestic product. Common…

11

Mar

2024

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One-minute speeches on matters of political importance

Mr President, in Greece we have had an unpleasant start to the campaign for the European elections. Ms. Asimakopoulou, MEP of the ruling New Democracy party, tried to gain an advantage by massively violating the personal data of Greek voters abroad. This is a particularly negative development that is being investigated by the Personal Data Protection Authority in order to safeguard the rights of c…

27

Feb

2024

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War in the Gaza Strip and the need to reach a ceasefire, including recent developments in the region (debate)

Madam President, Netanyahu is not just razing Gaza. It also undermines our strategic interests. It causes division in the Democratic Party of the United States, increasing Trump's chances of re-election. With Trump back in the White House, NATO's cohesion will be tested. As the number of casualties in Gaza grows, so does Putin's communication, political and war crimes charges. It is leveling Ukrai…

27

Feb

2024

EN Speech

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Multiannual financial framework for the years 2021 to 2027 - Establishing the Ukraine Facility - Establishing the Strategic Technologies for Europe Platform (‘STEP’) (joint debate - multiannual financial framework revision)

Madam President, I believe we are doing a lot to support Ukraine in economic, budgetary and military terms. Nevertheless, the needs of Ukraine are not defined by us, but by Russia, which is conducting an aggressive war against Ukraine. During the months that we have been discussing the Ukraine Facility, Russia intensified the destruction of the Ukrainian economy and basic infrastructure. Russian o…

26

Feb

2024

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One-minute speeches on matters of political importance

Mr President, a year after the train accident in Tempi with 57 dead and 85 injured, nothing substantial has been done in the direction of cleansing, vindicating the victims and their families. The newspaper Kathimerini, sympathetic to the Mitsotakis government, underlines in its main article: The House Committee that was set up to investigate the case was again consumed with a game of impressions,…

6

Feb

2024

EN Speech

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Conclusions of the European Council meetings, in particular the special European Council meeting of 1 February 2024 (debate)

Madam President, I believe we keep making a mistake of strategic importance in our approach to Ukraine. We define the level of our support according to our preferences and compromises and not according to reality. During the past 12 months, Putin has successfully completed the militarisation of the Russian economy. The Russian occupiers gained additional ground in Ukraine. The Americans stopped su…

5

Feb

2024

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One-minute speeches on matters of political importance

Mr President, the recent report by Transparency International is of great interest. It shows a significant drop in Greece's rule of law issues. At the same time, he points to a rise, among Greeks, in the perception that this is a country with a corruption problem. Essentially, the report links the non-respect of rule of law rules to an increase in corruption. When the state becomes partisan, when …

17

Jan

2024

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Rule of Law and media freedom in Greece (debate)

Madam President, I was expelled from the ruling New Democracy party in February 2022 because my criticism of the government was supposed to discredit the country. Three days later, based on the official file, the government was ordered to intercept my phone through the National Intelligence Service because I was officially considered a threat to national security. In December 2022, I appealed to t…

16

Jan

2024

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Role of preventive diplomacy in tackling frozen conflicts around the world – missed opportunity or change for the future? (debate)

Madam President, almost all of us support the value of preventive diplomacy, particularly in managing frozen conflicts. I think the Zovko report is very good and we all support it. However, we find that in many cases we are overwhelmed by developments. We made energy openings to Putin while he was preparing for the second phase of the invasion of Ukraine. On the issue of the Azerbaijani-Armenian c…

16

Jan

2024

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Presentation of the programme of activities of the Belgian Presidency (debate)

Madam President, the Belgian Presidency and the course of the European Union in 2024 will, in my view, be judged largely on the battlefield in Ukraine. Recently, Russian troops have been stabilizing or even strengthening their positions. Putin has militarized the Russian economy, procured weapons from Iran and North Korea, seems determined to do anything to prevail. On the contrary, the European U…

15

Jan

2024

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One-minute speeches on matters of political importance

Mr President, at the time of the outbreak of the pandemic in Greece, as in other European countries, there was a large increase in femicides. This is a complex social phenomenon that is constantly being analyzed by experts, but there is no doubt that gender-based violence and its most extreme expression, femicides, tend to become part of a new distorted norm. How can we react? I think we need to d…

22

Nov

2023

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Cyprus Confidential - need to curb enablers of sanctions-evasion and money-laundering rules in the EU (debate)

Mr President, this proves in practice that sanctions, with their shortcomings and detours, do not deprive Putin of the possibility of financing the war of aggression against Ukraine. In Cyprus, if measures are taken to remove Russian funds, which is obviously fair and necessary, these will unfortunately go mainly to the occupied areas and to Turkey, which does not apply sanctions with the understa…

17

Oct

2023

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2022 Report on Montenegro (debate)

Madam President, despite the difficulties mentioned in the very good report, with which I agree, Montenegro is one of the least difficult cases in terms of the enlargement of the European Union to the Western Balkans. Think of Serbia with Vučić, Putin's fan, or dysfunctional Bosnia and Herzegovina. I have visited the country twice on presidential election observation missions. Public opinion is pr…

17

Oct

2023

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Urgent need for a coordinated European response and legislative framework on intrusive spyware, based on the PEGA inquiry committee recommendations (debate)

Mr President, the quality of our democracy is threatened by the misuse of malware. Member State governments distort the concept of national security and turn against their political opponents. In Greece we had surveillance of socialist MEP Nikos Androulakis, who currently leads socialists in Greece, with a mixture of Predator malware and traditional wiretapping by the National Intelligence Service…

17

Oct

2023

EN Speech

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Effectiveness of the EU sanctions on Russia (debate)

Madam President, sanctions are important and rather effective, but they produce results mainly in the medium and long term. They are not going to solve the problem of Russia’s war against Ukraine. Russia is in a position, and will remain so, to finance its aggressive war. First, we created a huge energy dependency. We decreased this dependency, but Russia was able to cover its financial needs in 2…

4

Oct

2023

EL Speech

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Need for a speedy adoption of the asylum and migration package (debate)

Mr President, since 2014 in the European Parliament I have been voting on proposals to address the refugee-migrant issue. Almost nothing is implemented. Let me remind you of the relocation of 150,000 refugees and migrants that we voted for under the Juncker presidency – a very good proposal. Unfortunately, the Commission does not have much influence on the situations we are interested in. Look at …

3

Oct

2023

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The 10th consecutive increase in reference interest rates decided by the ECB and its consequences (debate)

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, the constant increases in key interest rates are to a large extent the cost we pay for the devaluation of inflationary risk and the slow reaction of those responsible. The European Central Bank is now pursuing the necessary deflationary policy in difficult circumstances. But a necessary policy must not become unfair and provocative. This is because…

3

Oct

2023

EL Speech

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Question Time with Commissioners – EU-China trade relations

Mr President, we are lagging behind in the competition with China. The criticism we make of the Chinese is justified, but of course we are also responsible for wasting time. I have two questions, whether we can cover this year with various alliances, and first of all microchips which are of strategic importance. The world champions are not the Chinese, but the Taiwanese. The question therefore to …

3

Oct

2023

EL Speech

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European Media Freedom Act (debate)

Madam President, congratulations to my colleagues and Commissioner Jourová on the good work. We are taking an important step in favour of freedom of expression. But we have a mountain to climb – I tell you as an MEP elected in Greece, the country that has the biggest media restrictions in the 27 European Union, according to Reporters Without Borders. I am telling you as an MEP, former journalist a…

12

Sep

2023

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2022 Report on Türkiye (debate)

Mr President, Erdogan, in my view, is weakening our policy in favour of Ukraine. It does not apply economic sanctions against Russia. Turkey is taking advantage of the opportunities offered by the European economy, while the regime and oligarchs are making money by breaking the embargo. With his expansionist policy against Cyprus, coupled with the understanding shown to him by European governments…

11

Sep

2023

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One-minute speeches on matters of political importance

Mr President, the climate crisis is hitting Greece particularly hard, as are other Mediterranean countries. This requires the implementation of policies of the best possible environmental protection and the most effective civil protection. Unfortunately, this is not the case in Greece. The flood defences, which were planned after the 2020 disasters in Thessaly, were never built, with the result th…

12

Jul

2023

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The need for EU action on search and rescue in the Mediterranean (debate)

Madam President, the deadly shipwreck off Pylos highlights two realities: There is the reality of the European Parliament, which advocates the organised and safe reception of refugees and migrants. But there is also the reality of some governments and parties using the situation for political reasons. In Greece, the prime minister has already drawn his conclusions about the maritime tragedy off Py…

12

Jul

2023

EN Speech

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Conclusions of the European Council meeting of 29-30 June 2023, in particular the recent developments in the war against Ukraine and in Russia (debate)

Mr President, we have done a lot supporting Ukraine, but the level of the required engagement is still dictated by the opponent. So it is obvious that we have to do a lot more. First, we have to give more financial assistance to Ukraine and there is no room for creative statistics and lengthy European processes; more and faster. Second, we need more effective sanctions against Russia. Russian GDP …

11

Jul

2023

EL Speech

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2022 Report on Albania (debate)

Madam President, I must tell you that I do not share the optimism of most colleagues. In my view, the biggest obstacle to the accession of Albania, like other Western Balkan countries, to the European Union is the creation of personal regimes that suffocate public life. Rama, who is reminiscent of Vucic in domestic politics, fortunately not in foreign politics, controls the media, wants control ov…

11

Jul

2023

EL Speech

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2023 Annual Rule of law report (debate)

Madam President, two of the issues mentioned in the Commission's report on Greece have caught my attention: One relates to problems with the functioning of the media. The other has to do with the political, essentially governmental, dependencies of justice. I agree, because I've been through both. I disagreed as a former journalist and publisher with the government's media control policy and was e…