What Jordi spoke about.

18

Oct

2023

ES Speech

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A true geopolitical Europe now (topical debate)

Madam President, Mr High Representative, Mr President-in-Office of the Council, building a geopolitical Europe has been one of the main objectives of this Commission. An unavoidable goal if we want to be heard and respected internationally. But we must ask ourselves if we are achieving this goal. And I wonder – with the exception, of course, of the response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, where, …

18

Oct

2023

EN Speech

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The despicable terrorist attacks by Hamas against Israel, Israel’s right to defend itself in line with humanitarian and international law and the humanitarian situation in Gaza (debate)

Mr President, is it too much to ask that barbarism and atrocities be unequivocally condemned, even when someone may feel close to the cause in whose name they are supposedly committed? If we don’t first and foremost have a human response to victims of terror, we are lost. The attacks by Hamas and the holding of hostages are acts of terrorism. And it saddens me that there are some still reluctant t…

16

Oct

2023

EN Speech

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Order of business

Madam President, however you would describe what has been going on in Gaza after the terrible terror attacks by Hamas, one thing is for sure: there is a terrible humanitarian crisis unfolding in Gaza in front of our eyes, and we have to be able to speak about this humanitarian crisis. This needs our utmost attention. That is why we ask to add a second debate in a joint debate about the humanitaria…

4

Oct

2023

ES Speech

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

Mr President, we have been debating for years how to approach asylum and migration with a common European policy and, although this is one of the most polarised debates we have, prone to populism and instrumentalisation by the far right – or, rather, that is why – it is urgent to conclude an agreement, especially the asylum and migration package. It is also urgent because the current management is…

3

Oct

2023

EN Speech

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Situation in Nagorno-Karabakh after Azerbaijan’s attack and the continuing threats against Armenia (debate)

Madame President, the mass exodus of Armenians from Artsakh, fleeing their homeland and leaving everything behind for fear of their lives is truly shameful and represents a massive failure. We did warn that the months long blockade of the Lachin corridor was only the prelude to a de facto ethnic cleansing. Azerbaijan, with all its anti-Armenian rhetoric, was never genuinely committed to diplomacy.…

13

Sep

2023

EN Speech

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Framework for ensuring a secure and sustainable supply of critical raw materials (debate)

Mr President, reliable, secure and resilient access to critical raw materials is key to bring forward the digital and green transition, advancing our climate targets and achieve greater strategic autonomy. We need to diversify imports and reduce dependencies as fast as we can. And given that a dramatic increase in our demand over the next years is forecast, we need to find ways to recycle and reus…

13

Sep

2023

EN Speech

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State of the Union (debate)

Madam President, Commission President, during your and our mandate, some circumstances – mostly unexpected – pushed us to have to kind of reinvent ourselves as a union. We took decisions that were unthinkable a few years ago and we became more aware of ourselves as a political community with values and interests to stand for. And I must admit, Madam von der Leyen, that this has happened under your…

12

Sep

2023

ES Speech

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New Agenda for Latin America and the Caribbean in the aftermath of the EU-CELAC Summit (debate)

Mr President, Mr High Representative, I believe that this desire to deepen EU-CELAC bilateral relations is positive and comes at a good time, because interesting things are happening in some Latin American countries and because we need to diversify partners, allies, not only in the commercial field but also in the political one. But I would like to focus on three points. First of all, Latin Americ…

12

Sep

2023

ES Speech

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Question Time (VPC/HR) - Situation in West and Central Africa in the light of the recent coups d’état

Mr. President, Mr. Borrell, to rethink, indeed, what do we do there? how are we there, but also with what alliances? I believe that precisely to defend these strategic interests of which we spoke, but also, above all, to help stabilize the area as a precondition for generating development and security, it is important, it is key, the relationship we have with the partners there. And there has been…

12

Sep

2023

ES Speech

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Question Time (VPC/HR) - Situation in West and Central Africa in the light of the recent coups d’état

Mr Borrell, my first question is this: What, in your view, are the European Union's strategic interests in the Sahel region and to what extent are these strategic interests being affected by the various coups d'état that are plaguing the region?…

12

Jul

2023

ES Speech

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The political disqualifications in Venezuela

Madam President, I think it is important for this Parliament to send a very unanimous and cross-cutting message to the Venezuelan authorities: Presidential elections scheduled for next year must be free, fair, inclusive and transparent. An electoral process must be guaranteed that protects the right to participate of all political options and opinions on an equal footing. In short, a fully democra…

12

Jul

2023

ES Speech

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

Madam President, yesterday a terrible event happened on the beach of Roda de Berà in Catalonia, in the Mediterranean. The body of a two- or three-year-old boy, in an advanced state of decomposition, was found in clothing. The police work on different hypotheses. One of them is that it would be a victim of a shipwreck of a boat full of migrants. This is not emotional blackmail. It's a very simple q…

11

Jul

2023

EN Speech

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Relations with the Palestinian Authority (debate)

Mr President, the Palestinian Authority is a government with limited self-rule over only a part of the West Bank, which in turn is an occupied and extremely fragmented territory, as I could witness myself three weeks ago as a member of DROI mission that went to the area. Moreover, the PA is in a very fragile financial situation and highly dependent on the international community, mostly us. It is …

14

Jun

2023

EN Speech

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Deterioration of fundamental freedoms in Hong Kong, notably the case of Jimmy Lai

Mr President, Madam Commissioner, since the Chinese authorities imposed the national security law three years ago, fundamental freedoms, rule of law and judiciary independence in Hong Kong have alarmingly deteriorated. Around 250 people have been arrested. Some media outlets have been forced to close, while labour unions and civil society groups have been disbanded. The case of Jimmy Lai, founder …

14

Jun

2023

ES Speech

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Investigation of the use of Pegasus and equivalent surveillance spyware - Investigation of the use of Pegasus and equivalent surveillance spyware (draft recommendation) (debate)

Mr. President, stop spying on us. Stop doing it illicitly, illegally, intrusively and undemocratically. Every time governments or agencies of European states have tapped the mobile phones of politicians, activists, journalists and lawyers, they have increasingly eroded democracy and the rule of law. Every attack on our phones is an attack on the fundamental rights of all. I am now addressing the S…

14

Jun

2023

EN Speech

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Preparation of the European Council meeting of 29-30 June 2023, in particular in the light of recent steps towards concluding the Migration Pact (debate)

Mr President, the Council’s recently agreed position on migration and asylum is worrying to say the least. It shows a bias towards the most narrow-minded attitudes regarding asylum and migration. The Council’s general approach would significantly lower protection standards for people arriving at EU borders. It would normalise the detention of migrants in close facilities at external borders for mo…

13

Jun

2023

ES Speech

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State of EU Cuba PDCA in the light of the recent visit of the High Representative to the island (debate)

Madam President, Mr High Representative, Cuba is going through one of the worst crises of recent decades. Crisis of shortages, especially of fuel, inflation, the largest wave of emigration in decades. Undoubtedly, the US blockade with extraterritorial effects is one of the causes of this situation. It is, although the embargo cannot be the justification for all the ills of the island. For example,…

13

Jun

2023

EN Speech

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Question Time (VPC/HR) - Relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan and the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh and at the Lachin Corridor

High Representative, I would like to put the focus on the broader negotiations towards a peace settlement. It is true that there have been intense and commendable diplomatic efforts in recent months, including from the EU. That’s true. There’s been five rounds of negotiations, discussions in Brussels. During these discussions, different issues have been tackled; issues like delimitation of the bor…

10

May

2023

ES Speech

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Media freedom and freedom of expression in Algeria, the case of journalist Ihsane El-Kadi

–Mr President, although the Algerian Constitution clearly protects freedom of the press, in recent years there have been judicial acts and decisions that in practice contradict this protection. The case of Ihsane El Kadi is the most recent. A journalist critical of the authorities who had previously been subjected to intimidation, he was recently sentenced to five years in prison and his two media…

9

May

2023

DE Speech

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This is Europe - Debate with the Chancellor of Germany, Olaf Scholz (debate)

Madam President, Chancellor, today is Europe Day. Today, and indeed every day, we can congratulate ourselves on the successes of European unity. Many of these achievements have been driven by your country. However, we still have a lot of work to do to make the EU more coherent, for example in terms of democracy and fundamental rights. We must say loud and clear that the illiberal projects of some …

18

Apr

2023

ES Speech

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Situation in Peru (debate)

Mr President, Mr Borrell, Peru has been in a permanent political but also social crisis for many years. But this last crisis, following the arrest of President Castillo for his intention to dissolve Congress, unleashed an uncontrolled repression by the Government with an unacceptable price on human lives: 67 deaths, according to the Ombudsman's Office, 49 of them due to the excessive use of force …

18

Apr

2023

EN Speech

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The need for a coherent strategy for EU-China Relations (debate)

Mr President, as we know, one of our weaknesses as the EU is the difficulty in establishing unified and coherent foreign policy strategies. That this would happen to us with what is one of the most relevant strategies – our relationship with China – would be particularly serious. We have indeed a good basis to update such a strategy in President von der Leyen’s recent speech at the EPC, which I ca…

29

Mar

2023

EN Speech

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Conclusions of the European Council meeting of 23-24 March 2023 (debate)

Madam President, the European economy is subject to pressures that can weaken its competitiveness and therefore its ability to generate and redistribute wealth. The latest scare related to, once again, the strength of the banking system. The geopolitical dynamic also poses challenges such as inflation or reducing strategic dependencies on technologies, energy or critical materials. And all this wh…

15

Mar

2023

ES Speech

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Conclusions of the Special European Council meeting of 9 February and preparation of the European Council meeting of 23-24 March 2023 (debate)

Madam President, in times of geopolitical turbulence such as the present, it is more important than ever for the European Union to know how to find its place in the world in political and security terms, but also in economic, commercial or industrial terms. This requires broad consensus and shared ambitions. In this regard, for example, it is positive that the Commission has presented the Green De…

14

Mar

2023

EN Speech

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Deterioration of democracy in Israel and consequences on the occupied territories (debate)

In just a few short weeks, we have seen what the most extremist government in Israel’s seven-decade history is capable of: eroding democracy by undermining the independence of the judiciary. Mr Borrell, the EU must unequivocally stand with those who defend a solid democracy with proper checks and balances in Israel. And you should make clear that if these reforms go ahead, this will ultimately hav…