What Abir spoke about.

4 Oct

2023

SV Speech

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

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Mr President, thank you very much. Like vultures, right-wing populists are waiting for us to fail. In every tragic fatal accident in the Mediterranean, on trains along our borders, they see their chance to put an end to the EU's migration pact. They've even declared a cultural war against anyone who doesn't look like them. They are talking in big words about defending European civilisation. They w…

3 Oct

2023

EN Speech

European Media Freedom Act (debate)

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Madam President, Madam Commissioner, esteemed colleagues, this Union defends democracy. Let that be heard. When authoritarian leaders within our Union are silencing the voices of those who oppose them, we will push back. When disinformation sows its dark seeds online or offline, we will shut them down. When journalists are attacked, spied on or silenced or prosecuted, we will protect them. When po…

12 Sep

2023

EN Speech

Iran: one year after the murder of Jina Mahsa Amini (debate)

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Mr President, Mr Commissioner, (The speaker used a slogan in a non-EU language) women, life, freedom, three words that have been shaking the world since the killing, the murder of Jina Mahsa Amini. And the killings have continued, the arrests have continued, the executions have continued, and all that in the name of God. Let it be known that there will be no God, there will be no history book, the…

12 Jul

2023

EN Speech

Recommendations for reform of the European Parliament’s rules on transparency, integrity, accountability and anti-corruption (debate)

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Madam President, my dream is for Europe to be a real northern star for democracy, a light that shines so brightly for the whole world to see that it is possible to build a Union of democracy that is built on freedoms, that is built on everyone’s equal value. My dream is for Europe to step onto the global stage and finally show that human rights, transparency, democracy, the rule of law matter ever…

12 Jul

2023

SV Speech

State of the SME Union (debate)

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Mr President, thank you very much. Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen. Before I shop for clothes, I usually go to my closet and look through it. What do I have in my closet? What fits with what? What have I not used in a while, and what is fashionable or not? Then I go shopping for clothes. This should really also be applied in our politics when we write laws to those it concerns. We need to look …

31 May

2023

SV Speech

Strengthening social dialogue (debate)

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Mr President, thank you very much. Dear colleagues, As a Swedish MEP, I stand here, proud, and represent a proud tradition and history with the Swedish labour market model, where our social partners have been trusted by politicians to manage social dialogue. Where we as politicians actually took a step back and let the social partners work together and find solutions. We are fortunate to live in a…

10 May

2023

EN Speech

Myanmar, notably the dissolution of democratic political parties

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Mr President, dear Commissioner. Thank you, firstly, colleagues, for the very good cooperation on this resolution. The military junta in Myanmar has, since the 2021 coup, launched horrific violence against its own population, resulting in the killing of over 3 000 civilians, the imprisonment of over 16 000 political prisoners, using rape as a weapon, also the displacement of hundreds of thousands …

18 Apr

2023

EN Speech

EU relations with Iraq (debate)

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Madam President, (The speaker reads a poem in a non-official language). I greet your banks from afar. Oh, you, the river of Tigris. The river of richness and gardens. This is a poem by the great Iraqi poet al-Jawahiri, who wrote it an exile – a fate that he shared with many oppositional Iraqis during the Saddam oppression, where they were not able to operate in the country because there was a grea…

15 Mar

2023

EN Speech

Iran: in particular the poisoning of hundreds of school girls

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Mr President, . Woman, life, freedom: three words that have shaken the world. If you have not heard them, then you have been sleeping. It is time to wake up. If you have not seen the bullets of the IRGC and the freedom—seeking women’s body, if you have not smelt the poisoning gas that has been attacked to the schoolgirls in Iran, then it is time for you to come out of the cave that you have been i…

15 Mar

2023

SV Speech

Deaths at sea: a common EU response to save lives and action to ensure safe and legal pathways (debate)

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Mr President, thank you very much. It is a European failure that we stand here today, once again, for 20 years, and see people dying in the Mediterranean in their search for security and for a better future. This is a European failure. Today, however, I would like to turn to Giorgia Meloni, who said during her election campaign that her Christian heart and her parental heart were burning for Italy…

14 Feb

2023

SV Speech

Establishment of an independent EU Ethics Body (debate)

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Mr President, thank you very much. Commissioner, Minister Roswall! I call the European Parliament the stronghold of democracy. After all, we are the only directly elected institution in the whole of Europe. We should all be proud of the trust that our constituents have placed in us. I am proud every day to represent the Centre Party, Sweden and our voters. But with that trust comes a heavy respons…

14 Feb

2023

SV Speech

Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence: EU accession (continuation of debate)

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Madam President, thank you very much. Dear colleagues and Commissioner, Today is the day of love. Then we'll celebrate love. But one in three women in the EU fears for their lives. They are afraid of being raped. They're afraid of being beaten. They are afraid of being controlled by a man in their vicinity, perhaps in their home. At the same time, we have heard here a lot about how this is unimpor…

18 Jan

2023

SV Speech

Terrorist threats posed by far-right extremist networks defying the democratic constitutional order (debate)

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Madam President, thank you very much. Madam Commissioner, Madam Minister. The extreme right in this House is vomiting out its xenophobia without any consequences. In their hateful, extreme propaganda, there is no responsibility for the radicalisation they have contributed to our societies. They are good at pointing out everyone else as terrorists, but are unable to see for themselves their own res…

17 Jan

2023

SV Speech

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

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Madam President, thank you very much. Mr Prime Minister, Commission, honourable Members! Sweden is taking over the presidency at a turbulent time – the war in Ukraine and global inflation hitting the EU as a whole – but at the same time at an important time. Our citizens across the EU are looking to the EU for solutions that are difficult to find. It is no secret, Prime Minister, that my party, th…

12 Dec

2022

SV Speech

Towards equal rights for persons with disabilities (debate)

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Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen. The EU's motto is United in Diversity. We shall promote each other's diversity, between Member States and between citizens, and strengthen each other. However, in several Member States citizens are oppressed for one reason only: disability. They are put into institutions for life. They are deprived of their fundamental rights, such as voting, an…

23 Nov

2022

EN Speech

Forced displacement of people as a result of escalating conflict in Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)

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Mr President, Commissioner, dear colleagues, Twizire and Rebecca are two young Congolese women who are at the moment, as we speak, being treated for horrendous wounds after being raped at the same time as them being pregnant. They are like tens of thousands of Congolese women who are being treated for their wounds, and even more who never got treated. Rape is used as a systematic, strategic weapon…

21 Nov

2022

EN Speech

Situation of human rights in the context of the FIFA world cup in Qatar (debate)

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Madam Chair, dear colleagues, it is amazing how that government in Qatar is using this to say that this is a smear campaign, that this is about racism, this is about them being a middle Eastern country when in fact there is nothing more racist than when you treat a migrant workers like this. Because, let’s admit it, if they were Europeans, this treatment would not be in place. It is because they a…

19 Oct

2022

SV Speech

Whitewashing of the anti-European extreme right in the EU (topical debate)

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Mr President, thank you very much. When I sat in the Swedish parliament, there was a debate about democracy in the Swedish parliament, and then Johan Pehrson, the Liberal Party chairman, ran into the hemicycle when the Sweden Democrats MP said that white people are easier for democracy than people like me, who come from the Middle East. Then Johan Pehrson rushed in and took a stand against this ra…

18 Oct

2022

SV Speech

Continued internal border controls in the Schengen area in light of the recent ruling by the Court of Justice of the European Union (C-368/20) (debate)

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Mr President, thank you very much. Commissioner, representatives of the Council, ladies and gentlemen. Schengen is undoubtedly one of the biggest gains we have with the EU. And when you ask our citizens what is the point of Europe, freedom of movement is one of the first things that our citizens mention. That is what enhanced cooperation means and what it leads to. This is the confidence we have i…

4 Oct

2022

EN Speech

The death of Mahsa Amini and the repression of women's rights protesters in Iran (debate)

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Mr President, three weeks of continuous courage shown by the women in Iran. Persian, Azeri, Kurdish women are paying the ultimate price for freedom – their lives. This is a courage that has not been met by you, Mr Borrell, when you didn’t take the opportunity during the General Assembly in the UN and take a stand for the woman in Iran. Enough for the press releases now, enough for the mumbling. I…

4 Oct

2022

SV Speech

Situation of Roma people living in settlements in the EU (debate)

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Madam President, thank you very much. Madam Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, I would like to thank you very much. Once again, we are horrified by the abominable and inhumane nature with which many of our Roma citizens are forced to live, and how police brutality and racism only add to the poverty and misery of Roma communities. We are appalled at how mismanagement and the Commission's inability…

14 Sep

2022

SV Speech

Situation of fundamental rights in the EU in 2020 and 2021 (debate)

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Mr President, thank you very much. Thank you for a very good report, despite a very messy start, because of the crazy right over there trying to hinder the work. In addition to the systematic dismantling of rights in our Union in several quarters, several governmental parties have used these times of crisis to reduce the rights and freedoms of European citizens. In many cases, governments have use…

14 Sep

2022

SV Speech

Existence of a clear risk of a serious breach by Hungary of the values on which the Union is founded (debate)

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Mr President, thank you very much. Commissioner, thank you very much. There is a difference between Hungary and the Hungarian government and Viktor Orbán. As you have heard, we are quite tired of standing in this House deploring the corrupt and authoritarian regime of Viktor Orbán. At the same time, we are pleased that the Commission has finally begun to implement the democracy lock or what is cal…

8 Jun

2022

EN Speech

The Commission's proposal for "Attracting skills and talent to the EU", particularly the Talent Partnerships with North African countries (topical debate)

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Mr President, dear colleagues, dear Commissioner, I would like to start by thanking the Commission for adhering to Parliament when we sent a strong signal, with the support of two thirds of the votes here in Parliament, when it came to labour migration policy and the law report that I was rapporteur for. Thank you for that. I do hope that we will also gather strong support and remain united on thi…

4 May

2022

EN Speech

The continuous crackdown of political opposition in Cambodia

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Madam President, the crackdown on democracy in Cambodia is not news to us in this House or in our Union. For years, members of the Cambodian opposition have been – if not their parties dissolved – prosecuted, imprisoned and even killed. The prisons of Cambodia are overcrowded with activists, with trade unionists, with political oppositions, with journalists, with land rights activists, with human …