Speeches

Mr President, thank you very much. whereas the attacks against LGBTIQ people in Uganda are an attack on human rights and freedoms; Love should be free and no one should ever be forced to refrain from expressing their feelings to another human being. Life in prison for expressing your love for another human being is beyond comprehension. In Uganda, it even means the death penalty in some cases. Attacks on LGBTIQ people and human rights defenders are cruelty. Stone age mentality belongs in the trash, not in legislation. Wherever LGBTIQ people and human rights defenders are under attack, it is our responsibility to increase support for them. We need to review our agreements with countries where we are seeing backsliding, and respect for LGBTIQ rights must be at the heart of both the EU’s domestic policy and its foreign policy. We need to end the witch hunt for LGBTIQ people once and for all. And to my friend Sam Muyizzi, who lives in Uganda and is a human rights defender, I would like to say: ‘Your freedom is our freedom’.

Madam President, colleagues, peace, security, stability, prosperity, human rights, equality and unity in Iraq are vital objectives. The people in the country have suffered for long, previously by a dictator and currently by division. We should also have in mind that the danger posed by ISIS has not totally vanished. A positive development in Iraq is crucial for the people in the country to at last be able to enjoy a decent life beyond war and conflicts. It is also important for peace and stability in the region at large, as well as in the interest of the European Union. According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, 3 million people – among them, 1.3 million children – affected by the protracted conflict continued to need humanitarian assistance and 1.2 million were internally displaced in December 2022. The support by the international community is imperative. We need to support those in need with humanitarian aid, but also backing the country with development support to build democratic, functioning and resilient institutions. Fighting corruption and respect for democratic principles are a must for a country that serves the need of the people. For an Iraq that stands up for all its population, the Iraqi constitution – that clearly emphasises the right of minorities – must be respected. The KRG, the Kurdistan Regional Government, should be ensured support by the Iraqi central government as well as the European Union. It should also be defended by attacks from the neighbouring countries as Turkey and Iran. The Kurds in different parts of Kurdistan, including the Iraqi part, have led the struggle against ISIS. They sacrificed their lives also for our freedom here in the European Union. To forget that would be one of today’s greatest sins against humanity, because ISIS was and is one of the biggest threats.

Mr President, colleagues, let’s talk the talk so that we can walk the walk. Let’s talk about the challenges that the EU and the whole world is facing – attacks on fundamental rights, including on women, LGBTQI and minority rights; dismantling of democracy; violation of international law; climate emergency; poverty and hunger; conflicts. The challenges are many, but human beings created the current situation and therefore we can change it. The Agenda 2030 should not be forgotten with its 17 development goals. It is an important toolbox to save humanity. A feminist foreign policy is essential for a gender-equal world, especially during a time the whole world are chanting ‘Women, life, freedom!’ Let’s not forget the women and girls in Iran, Afghanistan and different parts of Kurdistan. Let’s not forget the people of Ukraine that are under Putin’s attack. Let’s not forget the women and children, victims of sexual violence by Russian soldiers. And let’s take leadership for a two-state solution between Israel and Palestine. It is essential, therefore, that we continue supporting both the Palestinian authorities and UNRWA. Defence of international law and fundamental rights must stand at the heart of the EU budget.

Mr President, colleagues, Commissioner, the next time you turn your head up towards the blue sky and white clouds and are stroked by its beauty, the next time you wander around in the forest to find yourself admiring creatures and the greenery surrounding you, the next time you breathe in fresh air, remember what we might, with our current behaviour and lack of actions, deprive generations after us. We have more knowledge than any other generation before us to save the future from poisoning, but yet have been too comfortable to act until now. How long can we go on like this? No longer, colleagues. The more days that pass, the faster we need to run to stop a catastrophic future from becoming a reality. We need to act within the EU borders and beyond. The Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, CBAM, is one of the most important tools for us, in the EU, to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, also in non-EU countries. The emission culprits must pay and those affected must be supported. In this way we can invest in the next generation also through new climate protection measures in developing countries. The reinvestments of revenue in climate resilience would set a precedent for future CBAM systems. It is in the interest of our planet. The future is created here and now.

Mr President, into this debate I am taking the words of the Nobel Peace Prize winner, Shirin Ebadi, who was with us today. Speak to your respective Foreign Affairs Minister on how to listen to the people in Iran. I would have loved to do that but, unfortunately, the Swedish Presidency, so to say, the Swedish Government just left. I therefore want, however, to turn to the Swedish government through, I guess, they are listening to me wherever they are, but I’m going to do it in Swedish. Både kvinnor och skolflickor i Iran är modiga. Med risk för sina liv har de tagit sig ut inte bara på gator och torg utan även i skolor. Ropen fortsätter att skalla: ”Kvinna! Liv! Frihet! Zan! Zendegi! Azadi! Jin! Jiyan! Azadî!” Som följd av detta förgiftades hundratals skolflickor. Den straffrihet som förövarna bakom dessa brutala attacker åtnjuter är oacceptabel. Vi måste säkerställa en FN-ledd utredning om dessa brott och stödja skolflickorna i landet. Till Sveriges regering, till Sveriges utrikesminister Tobias Billström och deras stödparti Sverigedemokraterna vill jag avslutningsvis återigen säga: Sluta hitta ursäkter för regimen i Iran och stämpla i stället revolutionsgardet IRGC som en terroristorganisation nu. Ni sitter på EU-ordförandeskapet.

Madam President, colleagues, banning abortion is not saving anyone, as the ultra-conservatives here in Parliament are claiming. It is rather depriving women and girls their lives. Sexual reproductive health and rights are an essential part of ensuring women’s emancipation. Women are literally dying because of lack of access to sexual reproductive health and rights right now, even in our own Union. Imagine you are fleeing a war, being a victim of rape also, coming to a country that claims that they will help you and there not having access to abortion after being raped. This is the reality that Ukrainian women are facing in Poland. Women are once again literally dying in our own Union. Those brave women, however, that every day dedicate their life to fight for these essential rights are subjected to threats, harassment, violence and stigma. Also, once again, in our own Union: Poland yesterday. We must politically, legislative-wise and economically support human rights defenders working on SRHR. Let’s ensure all women and girls have the right to their own bodies. Let’s defend human rights defenders. My body, my choice. It’s not harder than that.

My question concerns Izabela, who was deprived of her life last summer in Poland because of no access to abortion. She was pregnant, but everybody in the healthcare system knew that the child that she was carrying would not make it. But even if they knew that, the legislation in Poland didn’t allow them to help her, didn’t allow them to save her life. My question is to you, as talking so harshly against the women’s right to our own bodies, what’s your message to the family of Izabela and all those women in Poland that are being deprived of what should be a human right – the right to their own body?

I would like to ask a question that concerns Izabela, who died last summer in Poland. Let’s talk about who is defending who. What would you say to the family of Izabela who lost her life? She knew that the child that she was carrying would not make it. But even if they all knew, there in the healthcare system, that the child that she was caring would not make it, they were not allowed to give her the access to abortion, which led to her being deprived of her life. So my question is, what’s your message to her, her family and all those going through the same violations, and to all those who are not having access to what should be a fundamental right – abortion and the right to their own body?

Mr President, colleagues, history will judge us not based on our thoughts, but merely on our actions. The Israeli democracy is right now at stake, it is in danger. And the international community, this includes the EU, has an obligation to act in defence of the people. Democracy, rule of law and human rights are not up for negotiation. It is about respect for international law. So to the colleague that was speaking previously, we need to, together, ensure the respect for international law. In the biggest demonstration in Israeli history, over half a million citizens have taken to the streets to protest against the extreme right wing government and their attempt to throw the country into an authoritarian one. The judicial reforms and the government illiberal policies are perpetrated against the Israeli people as well as the Palestinian people. It is used as a tool to expand settlements and annex the West Bank. For years already, the EU has demanded a stop to and compensation for Israeli demolition and confiscation of EU-funded structures and projects. For decades, the EU has demanded an end to the occupation and of the expansion of illegal settlements in Palestine. Enough already! My question to the High Representative and Vice-President Josep Borrell is what appropriate measures will the Commission take?

Madam President, Greece embodies many of the challenges we are facing right now. I am always amazed by how short a memory we human beings have. We live in an era when we cannot expect progress in the fields of democracy, human rights and rule of law anymore, because all energy goes to defending previous battles that have been won. Our MEP colleagues from Nea Demokratia are asking why we asked for this debate. Let me take one example that might not be important for you, but it is for us. According to Reporters Without Borders’ yearly Press Freedom Index of 2022, the situation for journalists in Greece has deteriorated dramatically to the extent that it fell from 70th place to 108th, becoming the lowest-ranking EU country. Nobody has missed the wiretapping scandal – a scandal with serious consequences – as surveillance of the phones of journalists and opposition political figures. One of the victims is our own MEP colleague, Nikos Androulakis, the President of the Social Democratic Party in Greece, PASOK. When faced with this situation, the right-wing Nea Demokratia government replied by trying to downplay it. It is a shame. The Commission must act quickly. Building democracies takes years and decades, but destroying them take can take seconds.

Mr President, the revolutions in the Middle East and North Africa brought light into the tunnel for the people that were suffering under dictatorships. However, the light went out as quickly as it appeared, but in one place it remained, Tunisia. I remember it very well when walking around in the streets of Tunis, after the regime of the dictator Ben Ali fell. I remember it also very well in the discussions with Mustapha Ben Jaafar, the former speaker of the Constituent Assembly of Tunisia. The light in the tunnel was there. It is therefore regrettable the path that current regime has decided to take. Many hope Tunisia will deepen its democratic transition, but unfortunately it not only remains, it also regresses. I met the current President Kais Saied myself once in 2021. Back then it was many nice words expressed by him, but today we know that the words seem to have been only words. Opposition and dissidents are under attack to the extent that civilians are being put before military courts. Freedom of expression is not anything in sight anymore. It remains today as a dream that could have been, but never was because of President Kais Saied. European Union has a bilateral assistance that is supposed to go to promoting good governance and rule of law, but the reality speaks for itself. Deterioration on the ground is a fact. My question to the Commission and to the Council is how are we ensuring that no single cent of our money goes to human rights violations in Tunisia?

I’m not going to say I’m shocked because I’m not shocked about what is coming from the far right, but I’m getting a bit tired of the constant demonisation of migrants and people of certain colours. Well, when you are standing up there, the only thing that you are doing is trying to undermine constantly the work against gender—based violence, against the violence that is occurring against women and girls. So I don’t really understand, on the one hand, the hypocrisy of demonising certain people, who don’t have anything to do with this, and on the other hand, how you refuse to take responsibility for the crimes that are taking place against women and girls all over the European Union. What is your purpose here? What do you want with all of this demonisation?

To combat gender-based violence is not any kind of poetry or anything. It is real. Women and girls are being deprived of their lives. Either we can send a clear message that we take the situation seriously or we can just play that we live on another planet and not do anything. We know that, unfortunately, there are too many countries within the European Union that don’t have sufficient legislation in place. When refusing to ratify the most important regional legislation, then you send a very clear message to women and girls all around the Union that their problems, that their lives don’t matter. So if you really want to stand up for women and girls all across the Union, you should every day, during the whole year, be prepared to say ‘ratify the Istanbul Convention now’.

Madam President, 50 women per week. 2600 women per year are murdered in domestic violence. While this horrific violence takes place in Europe, we are discussing whether or not we should ratify the most important regional legislation to combat violence against women and domestic violence: The Istanbul Convention. For a union that claims to stand up for all peoples fundamental rights. This is a shame. It shouldn't be whether or not we should ratify it. It should be how fast we can ratify it. Women and girls in the Union do not have time for our indecisiveness. The upcoming weeks will be crucial on the decision on which side of history the Council will be standing: the right or the wrong side. Let's send a clear message to them from the Parliament. No one is free before all women and girls are also free in our Union. I also finally want to thank the rapporteurs for the great job and the Commissioner for the leadership in order to ensure that the Council ratifies the convention. (The speaker agreed to respond to a blue-card speech)

Madam President, Commissioner, colleagues, my thoughts are with all those affected by the earthquakes. One week has passed since the earthquakes deprived thousands of people in Turkey and Syria, especially in the Kurdish regions, of their lives and millions of people of their safety and security, among them many of my family members. The force of nature is strong. But let’s not fool ourselves that the force of humans hasn’t anything to do with the humanitarian catastrophe. For many years, the regime has looked the other way when refusing to enforce building regulations in those areas that were affected by the earthquakes. For us with roots in the region it didn’t come as a surprise. It doesn’t come as a surprise either that the regimes in Ankara and Damascus have prevented help and aid from reaching many of affected areas. Because what is a human life worth when refusing to send and when preventing help to reach people in need and letting more life extinguish? What is a child’s life worth while letting them spend days under rubble? A week has passed for us, but a lifetime has passed for many of those affected. Instead of sending condolences to the regimes in Ankara and Damascus, the EU heads of state should send their condolences to the people affected through ensuring that help and aid reaches them.

Mr President, thank you very much. Colleagues! “All people are born free and equal in value and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards each other in a spirit of community.” As stated in Article 1 of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights. I wonder how the criminalisation of saving lives at sea goes hand in hand with the need to act in a spirit of community. I wonder most of all how short memory we humans have, and how some can become so empathetic that they prefer people to be deprived of their lives than to be saved. It is often the same people who preach that embryos are indeed life, but the existing man does not seem to have a human value. No man leaves his house, home, friends, family to risk his life at sea just ‘for fun’. When the bombs fall and oppression knocks on the door, you have no choice. Empathy and humanity – and perhaps most of all our human duty to help each other – can and must never be criminalised. The actions of the governments of Italy, Greece and other countries are shameful. We need a common, functioning, sustainable and humane migration and asylum policy that respects international law. I understand why the Right is afraid of international law, namely because... (The President takes the floor.)

Madam President, Commissioner, Minister, democracy is in danger. The coup d’état attempt in Germany in December by far—right extremists goes back decades in history. This development has not happened over one night. It hasn’t happened over a week. It has happened step by step. We Social Democrats, have been warning for this development for a long while. Conservatives and, unfortunately, also some liberals have tried to undermine our warnings, claiming we imitated the boy who cried wolf. We never imitated anyone because the wolf in sheep’s clothing was easy to detect. There has never existed such a thing as ‘far right only’, because the far right are in their nature extremists. They might dress like me and you, but the sound of their boots hitting the ground is just as audible today as it was in 1930s and 1940s Europe. Normalisation of right—wing extreme parties also mean normalisation of their ideologies. When these kind of ideologies normalise, the distance between their words and their actions shrinks. That’s when the rule of law starts to get attacked. And our democratic constitutions are in danger. In Germany, the US and Brazil we have seen these extremist forces in actions. Some of their friends, unfortunately, also sit in this Parliament, whether they are representing Sweden, Italy, Germany, France or any other Member State, their mission is the same. As democrats, we should know better than normalising them. Shame on all of those even cooperating with them. Colleagues, remember that their words are not only words. Their words can smash our democracies into rubble. Democracies must be fought for and defended by every generation.

Madam President, the words ‘woman’, ‘life’ and ‘freedom’ embody liberty. Liberty for all people is achieved through real actions. It is now time to consign the brutal regime of Iran to the dustbin of history. The words of the international community are not enough anymore, though. Actions are crucial if we want to stop delaying the moment of freedom. The EU must designate the IRGC as a terrorist organisation. The EU must sanction the leadership of the regime of the Islamic Republic of Iran, including their families. The words ‘zhan, zhian, azadi’ are three words that a couple of months ago one could hear in Jîna ‘Mahsa’ Amini’s birthplace, the Kurdistan region, but now they are echoed all over Iran. The women of Iran have had enough. The whole population has had enough of decades of oppression. Let us listen to their voices. Let us send a clear message to the mullahs: (The speaker continued in a non-official language) Woman, life, freedom.

Madam President, thank you very much. Commissioner, thank you very much. Mr Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson! At a time when anxiety has settled in every cell of our time, and the future seems uncertain, it makes me think of Prime Minister Olof Palme's words: “Society is the work of man. If something is wrong, we can change it.” Colleagues! Every week, at least 50 women are murdered in the EU. Let it sink in. But not a single word about this heinous crime was mentioned in Prime Minister Kristersson's speech. As the European Parliament's chief negotiator for the directive on men's violence against women and domestic violence, my question to Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson is: Will the Swedish Presidency actively work towards, as I and my colleague Frances Fitzgerald, who is the co-rapporteur, propose, exporting the Swedish legislation on the purchase of sex and consent? However, the Swedish right-wing government's lack of global leadership should be scrapped. Tone deafness to the world's challenges shocks us all through the abolition of Swedish feminist foreign policy and the reduction of aid. It does not belong in a time of global challenges, especially at a time when women and girls in different parts of Kurdistan, Iran, Afghanistan and the world are crying out ‘woman, life, freedom’. The Presidency says it wants to give priority to a freer and safer EU world. How do you contribute to that, when you sit quietly before the regime in Iran's oppression, when you dare not demand the terror stamping of the IRGC and lie flat in front of despots like Erdoğan in Turkey? Having said that, I would like to wish the Prime Minister and the Swedish Presidency the best of luck in their work.

Madam President, colleagues, the rights of persons belonging to national, ethnic or religious and linguistic minorities are an essential part of fully fledged democracies. Their protection and rights are an integral part of upholding the universal human rights. But even after 30 years of the UN declaration, the EU and its Member States have a long way to go to ensure that minorities are protected, and their rights are defended. A society’s well—being is judged by how we treat our whole population, especially how we treat minorities. We could even start looking at ourselves here in this European Parliament and other EU institutions. We talk about ‘united in diversity’ as our slogan, as our flagship, but what I see is a lack of diversity. We need to strengthen the protection of minority rights all across the European Union, and we also need to promote them globally. Anyone who belongs to a national minority must have the right to learn, develop and use their minority language. The authorities must listen to the national minorities and take their needs into account. The parties must become more inclusive because only through inclusiveness, we ensure that each and every person in the European Union also in practice can become a part of society and make their voice heard. Unfortunately, we see this discrimination in all parts of our society. We need to end the discrimination and we need to defend, promote and respect the rights of minorities.

Madam President, imagine sitting at home years after years, hoping and praying for your father, husband, or son to enjoy a dinner with you, or just being able to have a good laugh together. These simple things might not be dreams for us, but they are dreams for many people in Bahrain. The family of the Danish—Bahraini citizen Abdulhadi Al—Khawaja has over a decade dreamt what we take for granted. Today gives us all here in this room the possibility to send a clear message to his family and all other human rights defenders’ families that their dreams are our dreams. Today gives us all here in this room the possibility to send a clear message to the cruel regime of Bahrain that human rights are not for selected people to enjoy. Human rights are not if and when: human rights are universal and always. The European Union’s – including Parliament’s – biggest role is to defend the universal values within the Union and globally. Colleagues, all prisoners of conscience must immediately be released. Death penalty must be abolished. And the EU officials should always include visit of political prisoners on their programme in Bahrain. The crackdown on the political opposition must end. Therefore we also need to ensure that no surveillance technology of the European Union or the Member States ends up in the hands of the oppressive regime of Bahrain. Enough is enough. And I must also say that I think that the EPP’s boycott of the urgent resolutions on human rights breaches are a shame. Human rights cannot wait.

Mr President, the memory of the international community seems to be short. The EU is once again silent while crimes of atrocity against Kurds are taking place. Turkey’s bombs have been falling down on the Rojava region of Syria and the Kurdistan region of Iraq. It is the same Kurds that have sacrificed their lives for also our freedom here in the EU in the struggle against terrorism. Turkey’s bombs have crumbled years of struggle against the most heinous terrorist organisation on this planet, against ISIS. But yet, silence is the choice of the international community. It is enough with hypocrisy. The memory of the international community might be short, but let me tell you who has not got the luxury of having a short memory: Mohammed, who was 12 years old, whose body was burned by Turkish white phosphorus in the Kurdistan region of Iraq in 2019, and my own Kurdish grandmother, who got her whole village demolished and herself shot at – thank God, not hit – by Turkish military in the city of Lice in 1993, in the Kurdistan region of Turkey. Colleagues, the EU must demand a no-fly zone over the Rojava region and act to end the Turkish aggression against the Kurds in the different parts before it’s too late.

Mr President, colleagues, peace must be the ultimate goal wherever a conflict appears. Freedom must be the ultimate goal wherever an occupation exists. Life must be the ultimate goal where death is ever-present. But yet, over half a century has passed with a total lack of progress in getting close to ending the Israeli occupation of Palestine. 2022 has become the deadliest year for Palestinians in over 15 years. The people of Palestine and Israel are suffering. It is a shame on this Parliament, it is a shame on the EU, and it is a shame on the international community that we have let occupation become permanent. How hard can it be to implement the ruling of our own court, the European Court of Justice, on the labelling of Israeli settlement products? How hard could it be to demand an end to the demolition of Palestinian homes and structures? How hard could it be to apply visa rules on Israeli settlers in occupied Palestine? The Palestinians need a visa today, but the settlers don’t need visas. The EU, including this Parliament, claims it wants a two-state solution, but our actions say something else. We have let the two-state dream turn into a one-state reality through letting the settlements grow without any actions from our side.

Mr President, since 15 August 2021, when the Taliban stole power in Afghanistan, the situation in the country has deteriorated quickly, in particular the situation for women and girls, and especially for minority groups such as the Hazara. The extremist Taliban group initiated their rule by appointing an all-male cabinet, which they call a government. For me, as a social Democrat and a feminist, it is nothing less than a group of terrorists that destroys the lives of the people and the progress made in Afghanistan. They decide on what women and girls should wear. They decide on where women and girls should walk. They decide on what women and girls can or cannot say. The Taliban gender apartheid is despicable and it must end now. Commissioner, you need to expand the list of targeted measures against the Taliban leadership responsible for this, because dismantling human rights must come with a price. The EU must step up its efforts to share information with the International Criminal Court to ensure the end of impunity. Violating international law must have consequences, and EU countries should increase their humanitarian assistance to the UN, and NGOs’ unprecedented and urgent needs must be met. Women and girls in Afghanistan are suffering right now.

Madam President, all across Europe and beyond women and girls are victims of gender—based violence. Still, in the year 2022, it seems to be a crime to be born female, because otherwise why would our freedom be violated and why would we need to pay the ultimate price, with our lives? Frankly, I am tired of us women and girls needing, year after year, to demand an end to the deadly violence. In the home, even in politics, at schools, in the streets and squares, in war but also in peace, women and girls are subjected to violence – sexual, physical, psychological, financial and digital. In our modern Europe, a feminist Europe should not be a dream. It should be a reality. However, the patriarchy should be confined to the dustbin of history. As a co—rapporteur for the directive on combating violence against women and domestic violence, together with my colleague Frances Fitzgerald we are doing our best in order to strengthen the directive presented by the Commission, which we welcome very much. The ongoing pandemic which is gender—based violence has been going on for years and years, for decades and decades. Colleagues, I must say that I am ashamed that we even have six EU Member States refusing to ratify the Istanbul Convention until now – namely Bulgaria, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia and, unfortunately, even the Presidency itself, the Czech Republic. I’m not standing here to beg anyone to understand. I’m standing here to demand that everyone acts. Human rights are not only for men and boys to enjoy, human rights are also for women and girls. It is our duty to women and girls to end this heinous violence!