What Karin spoke about.

23 Mar

2022

SV Speech

MFF 2021-2027: fight against oligarch structures, protection of EU funds from fraud and conflict of interest (debate)

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Madam President, thank you very much. The EU is a cooperation, not an ATM. Countries that violate the rule of law should not believe that they can continue to offset EU contributions as if nothing had happened. Corruption is a poison that undermines democracy. It must be stopped, counteracted and revealed. The European Public Prosecutor’s Office plays an important role. It is difficult to talk abo…

10 Mar

2022

SV Speech

The situation of journalists and human rights defenders in Mexico

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Madam President, thank you very much. Madam Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, I would like to thank you very much. Journalism is never a crime. The degree of media freedom and the possibility for journalists to express themselves is a litmus test of democracy in a country. When journalists are harassed, imprisoned, murdered, as in Mexico, it is our responsibility to see and act. Mexico stands ou…

9 Mar

2022

SV Speech

General Union Environment Action Programme to 2030 (debate)

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Madam President, thank you very much. Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, thank you very much. The EU is the largest economy in the world and the most powerful environmental organisation in the world. I am a warm friend of Europe, and I am proud of the EU's work to save the climate, protect biodiversity, secure access to clean water in lakes, seas and streams. A lot has been done, but the biggest …

9 Mar

2022

EN Speech

Batteries and waste batteries (debate)

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Madam President, how many batteries do you have in your home? I tried to count mine: cell phone, computer, headphones, toys, speakers, smoke alarms and, hopefully, in my next car. Batteries do play an increasing role in our lives to ensure that appliances and services used daily, like mobility and energy storage, work. We need batteries for electrification and innovation as we leave fossil fuels b…

8 Mar

2022

SV Speech

Foreign interference in all democratic processes 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. Information is a deadly weapon. To tell the truth in today's Russia is punishable. No one can turn a blind eye to the fact that Russia is making and has made the lie the truth, to achieve its aims and to undermine and destabilise the democracy of Europe and its neighbours, to make i…

7 Mar

2022

SV Speech

Shrinking space for civil society in Europe (debate)

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Mr President, thank you very much. Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, thank you very much. Civil society is the origin and condition of democracy. That individual people choose to cooperate, organize themselves and start associations and organizations to pursue their cause, influence their environment, or actually just because they share an interest, gives us power, meaning, knowledge and context…

15 Feb

2022

SV Speech

Corruption and human rights (continuation of debate)

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Mr President, thank you very much. Commissioner, thank you very much. Colleagues! EU member states must live up to the democratic values they have signed up to. The principles of the rule of law not only protect the rights of the individual, but are essential to combat corruption and abuse of power. The European Commission must take firm action against countries such as Poland and Hungary that con…

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. Mr Borrell, ladies and gentlemen. After the wave of freedom that began with the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, we have taken democracy for granted, both within and outside the EU. Democracy is under threat all over the world. Today, it is more important than ever that we mobilise for democracy, with democracy as a guiding principle in our foreign, aid and secur…

19 Jan

2022

SV Speech

Violations of fundamental freedoms in Hong Kong

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Mr President, Commissioner, Members. ‘From the crowd in the tear gas cloud, the sound of terror and slogans is heard. The strong vocal cords of the demonstrators create synchronized chants. It is the sound of devotion and stubborn proof that Hong Kongers are prepared to die for their freedom.” This is what Swedish liberal and author Simona Mohamsson writes in her book Hong Kong RIP. The battle for…

16 Dec

2021

SV Speech

Continuous crackdown on civil society and human rights defenders in Russia: the case of human rights organisation Memorial

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Madam President, thank you very much. Alexei Navalny won this year's Sakharov Prize. He is a very worthy winner, who has paid a high personal price for his courageous struggle to expose corruption and abuse of power in Russia. The struggle for freedom was about to cost him his life. He was attempted murder and is still in prison. The Sakharov Prize, the European Parliament's prize for freedom of e…

15 Dec

2021

SV Speech

The proposed Council decision on provisional emergency measures for the external border with Belarus based on article 78(3) TFEU (continuation of debate)

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Mr President, thank you very much. The humanitarian breakdown at the border is a conscious move. Lukashenka wants to create a crisis for the EU and divert the eyes of the outside world from the repression he is inflicting on the people of Belarus. Yesterday, opposition leader Sergei Tichanovsky was sentenced to 18 years in prison. He was arrested last year to prevent him from running for president…

14 Dec

2021

SV Speech

Implementation of the Kimberley Process Certification scheme (debate)

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Mr President, thank you very much. Diamonds are found in troubled areas, but the system for classifying diamonds is focused on and traditionally based on four c's: clarity, colour, carat and cut, but the fifth and perhaps most important c, conflicts, is what the Kimberley Process is all about. The Kimberley Process is a brilliant example of how collaboration between civil society, governments and …

14 Dec

2021

SV Speech

Situation at the Ukrainian border and in Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine (debate)

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Madam President, thank you very much. Ukraine is a close neighbour, a trading partner, an important player for Europe's security. Ukrainian citizens have shown courageously that they want to be part of European cooperation. At the moment, when the eyes of the outside world are on Lukashenka's humanitarian breakdown in Belarus and at the country's border with the EU, Putin takes the opportunity to …

24 Nov

2021

SV Speech

Outcome of the COP26 in Glasgow (debate)

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Mr President, thank you very much. The 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow has just ended, but instead of focusing on disappointments, we must now look to the future. In a few days' time, the world's countries will gather in the WTO to tackle the problems facing world trade. Europe has a key role to play there, and the EU must show that we stand up for free and rules-based tra…

23 Nov

2021

SV Speech

Multilateral negotiations in view of the 12th WTO Ministerial Conference in Geneva, 30 November to 3 December 2021 (debate)

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Madam President, thank you very much. The 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow has just ended and the world's countries are now meeting in the WTO to address the problems facing the World Trade Organisation. Europe has a key role to play there and the EU must show that we stand up for free, rules-based trade and that we are a stable trading partner to count on in a digital worl…

23 Nov

2021

EN Speech

Situation in Belarus and at its border with the EU and the security and humanitarian consequences (debate)

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Madam President, if you use human beings, children, as weapons in your political game, if you steal young men and women’s freedom, and when, like the dictator of Belarus, you act as a terrorist, you should end up in court. Lukashenko’s contempt for human rights has no limits, nor does his disrespect for international law, peace and security. To all victims of trafficking, to all of you 884 politic…

11 Nov

2021

SV Speech

The outcome of the EU-US Trade and Technology Council (TTC) (debate)

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Mr President, thank you very much. Trade is a prerequisite for growth, prosperity, development and innovation, but it is also a tool to ensure peace and security. “Trade needs democracy”, said the US Secretary of Commerce when she visited us this summer. But democracy also needs trade. When we look at the world with trade policy glasses, it becomes clear that democracies need to work together, jus…

20 Oct

2021

SV Speech

UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, the UK (COP26) (continuation of debate)

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Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, Commissioner. We can't say we don't know, we can't. The responsibility to save the climate is ours. We can if we want. I am proud that the EU has decided to be the world's most ambitious environmental organisation, for Europe to lead by acting. Emissions need to go down globally. Nothing would be as effective as a global carbon price. The polluter has to pay out…

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, Commissioner. Why are we discussing here in the European Parliament what is happening in Texas? you ask. Well, because the right to control one's body should be self-evident here, in the United States, in the world. But that's not the case, for women. whereas the right and access to abortion are being threatened, questioned, curtailed both in the E…

5 Oct

2021

SV Speech

The situation in Belarus after one year of protests and their violent repression (debate)

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Mr President, thank you very much. Colleagues, Commissioner. Once again, I stand here to support the fight for freedom in Belarus. Once again, we must show our disgust at the human rights violations that Lukashenka commits on a daily basis, which are now also a cynical and inhumane way of exploiting migrants in his desperate game of power. Since I stood here last, the list of people deprived of th…

5 Oct

2021

SV Speech

The future of EU-US relations (debate)

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Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, the High Representative. Free rules-based trade is a prerequisite for growth, prosperity, development and innovation, but it is also a tool to ensure peace and security. When we see the world map of trade policy, it becomes clear that countries that share democratic values and views of freedom must cooperate, not oppose each other. It is in the common interest o…