What Evin spoke about.

10 Mar

2022

EN Speech

The situation of journalists and human rights defenders in Mexico

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Madam President, democracy is in danger all over the world. Journalists are being killed even on open streets and a dangerous culture of impunity is growing. The spike in the murder of journalists in Mexico is a part of the deteriorating situation of journalists in the whole world. 2020 has proved to be a very deadly year for journalists in Mexico, and it is the worst place on this planet in which…

10 Mar

2022

EN Speech

Transparency and administrative standards - the treatment of public access requests based on Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 (debate)

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Mr President, at the heart of democracy lies transparency, because without transparency, there is no accountability. Let me quote the President of the Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, herself, back in 2019: ‘If Europeans are to have faith in our Union, its institutions should be open and beyond reproach on ethics, transparency and integrity’. Yet in 2020, the words seem to still be just words, be…

8 Mar

2022

SV Speech

EU Gender Action Plan III (debate)

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Mr President, thank you very much. Colleagues, Commissioner! There is not a single woman anywhere at any time who has never fallen victim to the patriarchal structures that exist in our Union and beyond. Democracy and human rights cannot and must not remain mere words. whereas women’s and girls’ rights are human rights and are essential to the freedom of all peoples; Our fight for gender equality …

8 Mar

2022

SV Speech

The deterioration of the situation of refugees as a consequence of the Russian aggression against Ukraine (debate)

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Mr President, thank you very much. Colleagues! All of a sudden, Olof Palme’s words ‘those satanic murderers’ become highly topical again in Europe, when Putin’s fascism is embodied by the invasion of Ukraine. Putin's place is neither in the Kremlin nor on the streets of Russia. He is a member of the International War Tribunal. As in many other conflicts, including in Ukraine, women and girls are s…

7 Mar

2022

EN Speech

Shrinking space for civil society in Europe (debate)

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Mr President, civil society organisations are under attack and democracy is in danger. We see it globally when the dictator Putin is challenging our multilateral structures and international law, and we see it in our own Union, where governments – in Poland, Hungary, Slovenia – are severely undermining our fundamental rights and attacking organisations promoting those rights: women’s rights, LGBTI…

17 Feb

2022

EN Speech

Political crisis in Burkina Faso

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Madam President, almost eight years after the democratic revolution in Burkina Faso, we see today an unfortunate backlash with a military junta that forcefully grabbed power and imprisoned the democratically elected president Roch Marc Christian Kaboré. In late spring 2014, I was in Burkina Faso as Secretary—General of the International Union of Socialist Youth to support the newly emerged party M…

17 Feb

2022

SV Speech

The death penalty in Iran

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Mr President, thank you very much. Colleagues! The right to life is the most basic form of right. Depriving a man of his life is the gravest form of violation of human rights. In Iran, this irreversible punishment is being imposed, even on children. From 2009 to September 2020, at least 67 executions of juveniles have been reported. In January this year, 85 young people awaited the execution of th…

17 Feb

2022

EN Speech

The recent human rights developments in the Philippines

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Mr President, since 2016, the Philippines has been experiencing a democratic crackdown. The government, led by President Duterte, has constantly intensified its attacks on the human rights of its people. The people are suffering today in a way almost unimaginable half a decade ago. Civilians are being subjected to extrajudicial killings justified by the government’s despicable war-on-drugs policy.…

16 Feb

2022

SV Speech

EU-Russia relations, European security and Russia’s military threat against Ukraine (debate)

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Madam President, thank you very much. We are in the worst security situation in decades. Russian soldiers, tanks and missiles have surrounded Ukraine. The country is in urgent need of help. whereas Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity is a matter of our right to self-determination – young people, children and peoples of Europe and the world as a whole; The EU must therefore act together…

15 Feb

2022

SV Speech

Human rights and democracy in the world – annual report 2021 (continuation of debate)

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Mr President, thank you very much. Colleagues! History must not repeat itself. Democratic and human rights must never be the privilege of the few again. However, the report on human rights and democracy in the world speaks for itself. Something bad is happening right now. We see a regression. The decline is as present in our Union as it is globally, and the antidote is leadership and political wil…

20 Jan

2022

SV Speech

Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights in the European Union (continuation of debate)

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Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, My body, my choice. These four words should suffice, but in today's Europe we must once again fight for and defend the rights for which generations of progressive women and girls before us risked their lives. In recent years, we have seen how countries with conservative and nationalist governments, such as Hungary and Poland, are trying to restrict the right …

19 Jan

2022

EN Speech

Situation in Kazakhstan

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Mr President, freedom, democracy and social justice are core values of the European Union. We need to stand up for them within our Union, as well as defend them beyond. In recent weeks, we have witnessed the people of Kazakhstan take to the streets to protest against social and economic inequalities, corruption and authoritarian governance. A president that instructs his military to fire live ammu…

15 Dec

2021

SV Speech

Plans to undermine further fundamental rights in Poland, in particular regarding the standards of the European Convention of Human Rights and Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (debate)

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Madam President, thank you very much. Colleagues! We are at a crossroads: a Europe that stands up for the fundamental values of the EU or a Europe that dreams itself back to a time we promised each other never to go back to. We stand here today in a Union that has not seen war and misery for over 70 years, thanks to a handshake to protect ordinary people from history being able to repeat itself. W…

15 Dec

2021

EN Speech

The European Commission Guidelines on inclusive language (topical debate)

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Madam President, the EU is founded on the values of respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights, including the rights of persons belonging to minorities. No matter how much I would like to be the author of this sentence, I am not. But the people of our Union are because it is how we have formulated the EU values enriched in Article 2 in our…

14 Dec

2021

SV Speech

Outcome of Global Summit Nutrition for Growth (Japan, 7-8 December) and increased food insecurity in developing countries (debate)

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Mr President, thank you very much. Colleagues! The World Bank warns that the number of people in extreme poverty is expected to increase for the first time in decades. whereas COVID-19 and the rapidly escalating climate change are contributing to increased hunger and food insecurity worldwide; Conference Tokyo Nutrition for Growth It has been important for how the international community works tog…

14 Dec

2021

SV Speech

Cooperation on the fight against organised crime in the Western Balkans (continuation of debate)

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Mr President, thank you very much. Colleagues! We have to turn over every stone in order to get at organised crime, which is plaguing the lives of ordinary people. This includes the Western Balkans. We must combat the causes of crime, as well as the root causes of crime, otherwise the consequences risk being even worse. Today, people pay the ultimate price – their lives – when organised crime is a…

14 Dec

2021

SV Speech

New orientations for the EU’s humanitarian action (debate)

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Mr President, thank you very much. Colleagues! Humanitarian aid saves lives. It helps alleviate distress and uphold the human value of the people who lost everything: in wars, in natural disasters, in the wake of global climate change. In these situations, existing inequalities are amplified, especially for women and girls. More than 70% of those affected by chronic hunger are women and girls. How…

13 Dec

2021

SV Speech

Combating gender-based violence: cyberviolence (debate)

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Madam President, thank you very much. Colleagues, Commissioner Dalli! whereas men’s violence against women is classified by the EU’s own Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA) as one of the most serious human rights violations in recent years; When crises strike, existing problems are amplified and structures are further consolidated. The COVID-19 pandemic is such a splendid example, as men’s violence ag…

10 Nov

2021

EN Speech

The escalating humanitarian crisis on the EU-Belarusian border, in particular in Poland (debate)

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Mr President, humanitarian catastrophe: that is what this is about. People are stuck in no man’s land. We have the dictatorship of Lukashenko on one side, and then on the other side we have the authoritarianism of Kaczyński. The tool of dictatorship is the same regardless of if we talk about Lukashenko in Belarus or Erdoğan in Turkey. Using human beings who are already in vulnerable situations is …

21 Oct

2021

SV Speech

2019 Discharge: European Border and Coast Guard Agency (debate)

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Mr President, thank you very much. Colleagues! Commissioner, thank you very much. In April this year, this Parliament decided that Frontex did not do what can be expected from what is the EU's largest and best-funded authority, but also one of the most important authorities we have. A large number of very worrying shortcomings were raised and therefore the discharge decision was postponed. The age…

21 Oct

2021

EN Speech

The outcome of the Western Balkans summit (continuation of debate)

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Mr President, regional cooperation and European integration is very important, especially during a time when we see a backlash of our core values. I welcome that the Western Balkans Summit reaffirms the mutual interest and goals of the European Union and its Western Balkan partners. But the actions are absent. Yes, some of the countries, such as Serbia with its authoritarian President Aleksandar V…

20 Oct

2021

SV Speech

The rise of right-wing extremism and racism in Europe (in light of recent events in Rome) (debate)

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Madam President, thank you very much. Colleagues! The attacks on 9 October against the trade union CGIL in Italy are an attack on democracy and the fundamental values of the EU. I fear history will repeat itself. The first concentration camps in Germany were intended, among other things, for trade unionists. During Mussolini's time, the fascists waged war against the trade union movement in Italy,…

19 Oct

2021

EN Speech

EU-Taiwan political relations and cooperation (debate)

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Mr President, democracy, human rights and the rule of law are core values of the European Union. Agreements and cooperation are primarily done with the like—minded, or at least with those with the same goals and intentions. Taiwan is a role model in its region. Through deeper cooperation, we will acknowledge the leadership for fundamental rights it takes, including social, economic, political and …

19 Oct

2021

EN Speech

General budget of the European Union for the financial year 2022 - all sections (debate)

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Madam President, colleagues, I’m going to focus on one thing today, Peace between Israel and Palestine. In the heart of peace lays the well-being of the people directly affected. UNRWA is a UN agency that I hope we will not need in the future, since I hope we will be able to provide also the Palestinian people with statehood through a two state solution with two democratic states, Israel and Pales…

7 Oct

2021

SV Speech

The state law relating to abortion in Texas, USA

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Madam President, thank you very much. Colleagues! My body, my choice. How hard can it be to understand? Men's violence against women and girls seems to see no boundaries. The fact that we may not even have our uterus and ovaries in peace is a clear example of how far violence extends in some countries and what conservative forces want to throw us back to when they gain power. Texas lawmakers are s…