What Željana spoke about.

10

Oct

2024

EN Speech

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Composition of committees and delegations

Madam President, yesterday there was discussion on the recent floods in Bosnia and Herzegovina, where there were lost more than 20 lives, and many, many wounded. People are still searching for the dead people in Herzegovina, and in Bosnia the destruction is incredible. Unfortunately, my colleagues in this room didn't dare to listen and to have a minute of silence. So I invite you all to pay respec…

10

Oct

2024

EN Speech

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The rise of religious intolerance in Europe (debate)

Madam President, Europe has long prided itself on being a beacon of tolerance and diversity, at least the side that was not under communism, where priests and cardinals and other religious leaders were persecuted and put in jail and persecuted for their religion and belief. My great uncle, a bishop of Mostar, was for ten years in prison because he didn't want to separate from Holy See, from Vatica…

9

Oct

2024

HR Speech

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Recent devastating floods in Bosnia and Herzegovina (debate)

Dear Chairman, the unprecedented catastrophic floods that hit Jablanica, Konjic, Kiseljak, Kreševo and Fojnica on October 3rd claimed at least 20 lives, while many are still being sought. The population of these municipalities was urgently evacuated last night due to renewed threats of flooding. As Bosnia and Herzegovina's largest partner, it is our duty to mobilise all available resources to enab…

8

Oct

2024

EN Speech

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Escalation of violence in the Middle East and the situation in Lebanon (debate)

Mr President, Alto Representante, as yesterday marked the sombre anniversary of the 7 October attacks, the past few days have seen an alarming and unprecedented escalation of the ongoing conflict. In this context, Iran's aggression against Israel must be met with firm and unequivocal condemnation. This action threatens to spark widespread conflict across the region. It is imperative that Iran and …

17

Sep

2024

EN Speech

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War in the Gaza Strip and the situation in the Middle-East (debate)

Madam President, until last week, I was in Jordan for the election observation mission. I can tell you that no country is better place to gauge the consequences of the war between Israel and Hamas. Over there, the risk of spill-over into the region is palpable. The refugee situation is a striking example. Jordan is still hosting almost 1.2 million Syrian refugees, and the current displacement of P…

25

Apr

2024

HR Speech

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Pre-enlargement reforms and policy reviews (debate)

Dear Chairman, enlargement is without a doubt the most successful policy of the European Union that ensures our stability and security. Guided by past successes, I believe there is no need to change the decision-making mechanisms in the European Council as proposed by the Commission Communication on pre-enlargement reforms and policy reviews. Unanimity as a mechanism that allows less influential M…

12

Mar

2024

EN Speech

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

Mr President, congratulations for your birthday today. My birthday is next week and Ursula von der Leyen gave me the best news by saying that Bosnia and Herzegovina will open negotiations agreement. So thank you, Ursula, our candidate who is leading European Union through these volatile times. Thank you, Andrej Plenković, for leading Team Europe with Mark Rutte and Ursula von der Leyen to Sarajevo…

29

Feb

2024

FR Answer

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EU/Chile Advanced Framework Agreement - EU/Chile Advanced Framework Agreement (Resolution) - Interim Agreement on Trade between the European Union and the Republic of Chile (joint debate - EU-Chile agreements)

That is why, at the beginning of my speech, I said that I was not sure in which language I was going to speak, because you are lost in interpreting my speech. I say that the diaspora helped to build modern Chile today, at a time when Croats were not in the same position, like the Italians you may now represent, when Croatian agriculture in Dalmatia suffered severely from imports. I must not change…

29

Feb

2024

EN Speech

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EU/Chile Advanced Framework Agreement - EU/Chile Advanced Framework Agreement (Resolution) - Interim Agreement on Trade between the European Union and the Republic of Chile (joint debate - EU-Chile agreements)

Mr President, it’s very difficult to choose the language here because I’m talking to a Croatian diaspora who built Chile end of 19th century when Croats were not so competitive, and their agriculture and Dalmatia was suffering under high influence of import from Austro-Hungarian and Italian wine. And they couldn’t also adopt their shipyard. So, they have to go to look for another paradise and to w…

28

Feb

2024

HR Speech

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Strengthening European Defence in a volatile geopolitical landscape - Implementation of the common foreign and security policy – annual report 2023 - Implementation of the common security and defence policy – annual report 2023 (joint debate - European security and defence)

Dear Chairman, First of all, I would like to congratulate rapporteur David McAllister on the excellent report covering all aspects of foreign and security policy, which was extremely challenging in the previous year. The war in Ukraine, the pogrom of Jews and the hostage crisis in the Middle East, geopolitical tensions in the Indo-Pacific and growing tensions in the Western Balkans are all challen…

27

Feb

2024

EN Speech

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Closer ties between the EU and Armenia and the need for a peace agreement between Azerbaijan and Armenia (debate)

Mr President, as a standing rapporteur for Azerbaijan, I welcome continued engagement between Armenia and Azerbaijan to reach an agreement on the landmark peace treaty that would end decade-long conflict and bring peace and stability to the South Caucasus. The recent agreement on the exchange of prisoners, bilateral meetings held in Munich, and the upcoming peace talks in Berlin are steps in the r…

26

Feb

2024

HR Speech

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Tackling the inflation in food prices and its social consequences and root causes (debate)

Dear Chairman! The coronavirus pandemic, Russia’s aggression against Ukraine and the energy crisis have left a profound mark on our economy, in particular on the rise in food prices, which we must continue to fight persistently and vigorously against. Croatia can serve as an example in this fight to other EU member states, since our government, led by Prime Minister Plenković, is recording one of …

8

Feb

2024

HR Speech

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Association agreements for the participation of third countries in Union programmes (debate)

Dear Chair, Honourable Commissioner, I welcome the recent adoption of a comprehensive agreement on a new Free Trade Agreement between the European Union and New Zealand that will bring mutual benefits in trade and investment. New Zealand is our key partner in the Indo-Pacific with which we share strong historical, cultural and economic ties. I am proud to point out that more than a hundred thousan…

7

Feb

2024

HR Speech

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Need to fight the increase of antisemitism and anti-Muslim hatred (debate)

Dear Chairman, Vice-President Schinas, we are here discussing antisemitism and anti-Muslim sentiment. What will you say to the situation in Mostar, where students of the Croatian university were forced, because of the propaganda of using the Old Bridge and the poster that did not have enough minarets to satisfy the other side, they had to cancel the summer school of international politics? One uni…

6

Feb

2024

HR Speech

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Russiagate: allegations of Russian interference in the democratic processes of the European Union (debate)

The discovery of Russian interference in our democratic processes, unfortunately, is no surprise. We have already had an organized trade in influence, which originated in a group of socialists and under the famous name QatarGate, has put us in an awkward position to defend the reputation of the Parliament. We are now facing a former member of the Greens Club, who, along with some well-known member…

6

Feb

2024

HR Speech

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The need for unwavering EU support for Ukraine, after two years of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine (debate)

Dear Chair, I welcome the latest decision of the European Council to grant assistance to Ukraine and the conclusion of the trilogue that took place last night here in Parliament on the mechanism of this assistance. For years, Ukraine has been courageously bearing heavy sacrifices for its decisions to embark on a European future. Croatia and all its citizens are well acquainted with the challenges …

17

Jan

2024

HR Speech

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Situation in Serbia following elections (debate)

Dear Chairman, Commissioner, the elections in Serbia are behind us. It is still early to draw conclusions on their regularity until we have received the final ODIHR report. In the meantime, it is essential that all complaints are taken into account in accordance with the rules governing the conduct of elections. At this point, it is essential for Serbia's path to work on further steps towards the …

16

Jan

2024

EN Speech

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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, I would like to thank the Commissioner for his kind words and to thank all the colleagues for contributing to this very, very rich debate. This is the beginning of our rethinking about what the European Union should do in order to have a more unified voice, in order to maintain its economic and diplomatic strength globally. First of all, we need to rethink our foreign policy-makin…

16

Jan

2024

EN Speech

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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, dear Commissioner, dear colleagues, this report is calling for lessons learned where we have made some progress and is also keen to rethinking our policies in order to be better prepared, more coordinated and more focussed on preventing future crises. First of all, I would like to thank my colleagues, shadow rapporteurs from other political groups for their serious and constructiv…

16

Jan

2024

EN Answer

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Humanitarian situation in Gaza, the need to reach a ceasefire and the risks of regional escalation (debate)

I will not contribute to the electoral campaign in South Africa, but about the civilian victims, what I can say, I always said Hamas is keeping Gaza and holding people as their hostage, not only hostages that are taken from Israel’s side, but they are held as human shields that they are using in the war on terror, they are hostages and they are victims of this war. So we should discuss how these p…

16

Jan

2024

EN Speech

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Humanitarian situation in Gaza, the need to reach a ceasefire and the risks of regional escalation (debate)

Mr President, on 7 October, I was in Cyprus visiting and seeing the situation which Cyprus, a member country, is living – and 7 October was a day that will always stay in my memory. It’s something unimaginable that could have happened: the atrocities, the kidnapping of poor young people, and still their families don’t know their whereabouts. It’s a reminder of how cruel we are. Not many of you men…

12

Dec

2023

EN Speech

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EU-US relations (debate)

Mr President, High Representative, I would like to thank the rapporteur on his constructive approach and good cooperation during the negotiations. Well done, Mr Picula. Since the last recommendation on the future of EU-US relations that we adopted in 2021, our relations have reinvigorated significantly. The United States is not only a partner, but also our closest ally, with whom we need to coordi…

12

Dec

2023

EN Speech

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Need to release all hostages, to achieve a humanitarian ceasefire and prospect of the two-state solution (debate)

Mr President, High Representative, two months after the despicable terrorist attack by Hamas, we still have 128 Israeli people held hostage by this terrorist organisation, among them women, elderly and children. Every second is one second too long for their loved ones, who are in terrible anxiety for their safety and well-being. Hamas and like-minded terrorist organisations hold civilians in front…

22

Nov

2023

HR Speech

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30 years of Copenhagen criteria - giving further impetus to EU enlargement policy (debate)

It has been 30 years since the Copenhagen criteria were met by the Honourable President, the Honourable Vice-President. In those ‘93 years, Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina were under aggression, and the war caught up in an unprepared Europe. Two years later, it was signed in ‘95. The Dayton Peace Agreement. Austria, Sweden and Finland joined the European Union. During that time, ‘93. Belgium re…

8

Nov

2023

HR Speech

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EU enlargement policy 2023 (debate)

Dear Chairman, once again I congratulate the people of Ukraine, the people of Moldova, the people of Georgia, and to the people of Bosnia and Herzegovina once again I say: Croatia stands firmly behind you. Congratulations to Mrs. Borjana Krišto for her dedicated and courageous work, what she has done in this little time, congratulations to Prime Minister Andrej Plenković for fighting until the las…