Speeches

Madam President, Europe has gone through the darkest pages of its history because of anti-Semitism. Nowadays, unfortunately, we find hatred against the Jews again with many facades. But another hate speech has been added. Islamophobia is rooted in cultural racism. Antisemitism and xenophobia may have different starting points, but both stigmatize and exclude people because of their religious and ethnic origin. We must never forget that nations that recognize citizens' rights only on the basis of religion and ethnicity are on the path of barbarism. This is exactly what the founders of the European Union wanted us to avoid. The urgent need to combat antisemitism and Islamophobia stems from the fact that they pose a threat to liberal democracy and an open society, but also to European culture. Because a culture that violates human dignity ceases to be a culture.

Mr President, Commissioner, a year ago we asked the European Commission to adopt legislation banning unpaid traineeships. Unfortunately, we are still waiting for progress on this issue. It is time to finally invest in the new generation, not only with slogans, but with concrete policies. Despite dedicating 2022 as the European Year of Youth, we have not yet met fundamental demands from young people. We therefore demand practical exercises with fair remuneration, health care and social protection. Traineeships should lead to quality jobs with fully guaranteed labour rights and not replace permanent jobs. The new generation is the future. Let's invest in the new generation. It is time to ban unpaid internships in all Member States of the European Union.

Madam President, we are witnessing an increase in xenophobia, racist phenomena and other forms of intolerance stemming from ethnocentrism, patriarchal thinking and cultural racism. Xenophobia, empathy against immigrants and generally the rejection of otherness is the unified element of the new far right and must be condemned without hesitation. In my country, Cyprus, we have recently seen two anti-immigrant pogroms. Just a few days ago KISA, an NGO that defends the rights of migrants, was bombed. We must leave no further room for misinterpretation of hate speech. Combating these phenomena must be a priority for the European Union. We need to speed up the introduction of legal measures and criteria for defining hate crime applicable in all Member States.

Mr President, we Europeans are in front of a historical challenge, and we have huge responsibilities towards Jews and Palestinians alike. We should never forget that anti-Semitism was mainly a European malady, that the Jews were for centuries despised, humiliated, eventually exterminated en masse. The Western world has victimised also the Arabs. The roots of the Israeli Palestinian conflict lies in the colonialist policies of Western powers. Hence, today, we have an ethical obligation and a political responsibility. We have to ensure the immediate end of Israel’s attack on the Palestinian people and pave the way for the two-state solution. We have to make sure that Israel finally understands that it is one thing to build their homeland for the Jews, and another to force Palestinians to deportation and condemn them to remain stateless. As the Nobel prize winning Israeli author, Amos Oz, has repeatedly emphasised, the two-state solution is also for the best interests of Israel and the Jewish people overall.

Madam President, we are discussing one of the most important and sensitive issues of the digital era. It is our duty to protect our children and put in place a strong framework that will provide to youngsters all the necessary skills. It is of great importance that digital skills and competencies, including media literacy, be recognised as mandatory skills and should be included in school curricula across the European Union. We must focus on educating children, parents, teachers and the general public on online safety and how to recognise and report online solicitation of children. The EU and Member States need to invest in supporting victims of online child abuse or solicitation, including anonymous public reporting and in mental health and psychological services for victims and their families. Finally, I would like to underline that children need to be empowered and public investments in education are investments to the whole society.

Mr President, Commissioner, the internal border areas cover 40 % of the territory of the European Union and represent 30 % of its population. Today we are discussing a voluntary mechanism, focused on neighbouring land borders of the European Union. The creation of the mechanism will help resolve legal and administrative obstacles in cross-border regions, mainly by supporting cross-border workers and businesses. We regret the Council's decision not to pursue work on the proposal. As a group of the Left, we support the creation of this voluntary mechanism from 2018, in particular because the mechanism will help resolve legal and administrative obstacles in cross-border areas, but also because the proposal is based on a voluntary basis for Member States.

Mr President, the tragic consequences of heatwaves, forest fires and floods as recently seen in Greece, Cyprus and other European countries show that there are still lessons to be learned and actions to be taken. The vulnerability of our societies remain very high despite important progress in the cooperation amongst countries and investments in advanced equipment. Scientists warned us a long time ago: what we used to consider ‘extreme’ and ‘unlikely probable’ is now becoming ‘business as usual’. Our infrastructures and protection need to adapt as fast as possible to the changing climate conditions. It is obvious that the lack of appropriate and timely human action allows climate change to become a climate crisis. The complexity of disasters implies timely planning, and demands a high-level, dynamic-responding governance. Against climate-related life threatening risks, we need centralised management. The way the EU handled the pandemic may be a good example, namely collective monitoring, collective action.

Madam President, the question of young people's traineeships is a key issue for today's young generation. It helps to provide the necessary supplies to meet the challenges imposed by today's modern society. The subject of internships is an important link in the whole process. We are talking here and we have an obligation to ensure quality conditions for our young people. We as the European Union need to be at the forefront of this process. Eliminate unpaid traineeships in every Member State and in the institutions of the European Union. To ensure that this process leads to quality permanent jobs and not to a vicious circle where young people are forced to enter this process over and over again. It is about serving the interests of the younger generation. After all, last year was declared the European Year of Youth and a key demand of young people was a ban on unpaid traineeships in the European Union.

Dear Mr President, welcome. First of all, let me wish you every success in your new duties. Our country, Cyprus, has been living an ethnic conflict since 1964 and has been de facto divided since 1974. I would like to express my support for every step you take towards a solution of the Cyprus problem on the basis of a bizonal, bicommunal federation, with political equality between the two communities. There is no other realistic solution. The policy of the two states on the Turkish side is unacceptable. Equally unacceptable is any denial of the political equality of the Turkish Cypriots. Mr President, peace in our country goes through the rapprochement of the two communities, just as the peoples of Europe have managed to do and get out of the conflict. Equally important is the Turkish Cypriots' rapprochement with the European Union. I call on the Republic of Cyprus to accelerate efforts to strengthen Turkish Cypriot relations with the European Union. Mr President, I speak to you in Greek, because my mother tongue, Turkish, although it is an official language of the Republic of Cyprus, is not included in the official languages of the European Union. I urge you to end this linguistic injustice. Recently, AKEL submitted to you a series of proposals concerning Turkish Cypriots, such as the inclusion of Turkish Cypriots in Erasmus, citizenship, mixed marriages and more. I hope you take them seriously and work in this direction.

Madam President, I am speechless. I will rather call Voltaire to talk on my part. I quote: ‘Entombed beneath roofs, and they die without relief from the horror of their suffering lives. As the dying voices call out, will you dare respond to this appalling spectacle of smouldering ashes with: “This is the necessary effect of the eternal laws freely chosen by God”? Seeing this mass of victims, will you say: “God is avenged. Their death is the price of their crimes”? What crime, what fault had the young committed?’ Voltaire wrote these lines in 1775 after the earthquake in Lisbon. By now, we know it is not God. Not even nature entirely. It is human society, bad governance and zeal for profit. And it can be only healed with solidarity. We must support the victims of this biblical catastrophe in Türkiye and Syria, support the Turkish-Cypriot families who lost their beloved ones who went to Turkey just for a volleyball match between schools. Let’s help them, so that the kids can play volleyball again.

Madam President, the EU today is admittedly in a very difficult position. In just a decade it has experienced a worldwide economic crisis, a pandemic of a deadly virus and the consequences of an aggression, of a war. At the same time, the effects of the climate crisis are intensifying. The youth has fewer employment opportunities. For the first time since the Second World War, the youth is experiencing a lower standard of living compared to their parents. It was in this context that we have decided to dedicate the year 2022 to youth and have set four main objectives: to renew the positive perspectives for young people and help them overcome the effects of pandemic on their lives; to support and empower young people to become active and engaged citizens; to better inform young generations about opportunities available to them from public policies at EU, national, regional and local levels; and to mainstream youth policy across all relevant Union policy fields. However, in order to meet the EU’s expectations, it takes much more than designating a European Year. We have to increase public spending on education so that every child can have a high quality education, provide employment opportunities for everyone, increase wages and ban unpaid traineeships. Racism and other forms of discrimination are diseases that cut through our society to undermine our values. We should treat this immediately. We have to focus on combating discrimination, address the challenges faced by young people who are discriminated. The creation of a fully-fledged EU youth test that will not merely become a bureaucratic checklist, but rather tackle these issues in a holistic way, can help achieve our aims. Finally, we have to extend the year until 9 May and, more importantly, to defend and promote the legacy of the European Year of Youth. As the lyrics of a Greek song tells: ‘defend the child, because if a child is saved, there is hope’.

Madam President, another tragic dimension of the war in Ukraine is the destruction of cultural monuments. At the same time, artists and people of culture experience death, refugees and occupation. We therefore express our solidarity with every artist, every writer, every cultural worker facing the consequences of war. In the 1977 Geneva Convention, Article 53 prohibits any hostile action directed against historical monuments, works of art and places of worship which are the cultural and spiritual heritage of peoples. We support the protection of cultural heritage. Any destruction of such a site, from the Great Mosque in Aleppo and the Temple of Bel in Palmyra to the cultural heritage sites in Ukraine, is a great loss. It is a loss of humanity itself. The European Union must act immediately. It needs to give substantial help to the people of culture and not expect from the good mood of various charities. Words are not enough; We want actions. The creation of a European emergency and recovery mechanism, specifically dedicated to cultural heritage, is moving in the right direction. We call on Europe and the Commission to undertake the preparation and promotion of this framework. This, of course, will not make much sense as long as the war continues; The war must stop immediately. We demand that President Putin end this war of aggression now. We also call on the international community to take the necessary diplomatic initiatives to put an end to this human drama.

Mr President, Theodor Adorno, already in 1967, pointed out that one of the causes of the rise of the extreme right is the failure of liberal democracies to fulfil their promises and satisfy the needs of the citizens. It is true that, with no liberal policies in recent years, the gap between the privileged and the vast majority of the population has increased. The far right exploits the dissatisfaction of the angry masses and mobilises ressentiment against the political class. What the extreme right provides are nationalism, anti—enlightenment, xenophobia and political authoritarianism. It talks about exclusive and pure national identity, it turns against immigration, especially against Muslim immigrants, and presents the EU as a threat. For the far right, the multicultural EU is denationalising European people. We should be aware that the rise of the right goes hand in hand with the rise of nationalism. Indeed, in the historical context, all 21st century nationalism means far right. Unfortunately, when it comes to issues such as national identity and multiculturalism, the mainstream right is often using similar discourses to the extreme right and is normalising the narrative of far right thinking.

Mr President, as rapporteur for the REGI opinion on the EU action plan for the social economy, I would like to stress once again the key role of cohesion policy funds in financing social economy projects, both for urban and for rural development, and especially for regions that suffer from severe and permanent natural or demographic handicaps, such as islands, outermost, cross-border and mountain regions. At the same time, the EU action plan for the social economy can greatly contribute to solving urban challenges such as discrimination, poverty, inequality and social exclusion. Most importantly, though, the EU plan for the social economy should be accompanied by impact assessment tools. Commissioner, the Commission should put mechanisms for monitoring and supporting social economic policies in place. The Member States must set targets or objectives organising at the same time consultation processes with relevant social economy actors, local and regional authorities. We should all call for participatory approaches in support programmes and funding opportunities for the EU action plan for the social economy.

Madam President, Madam Commissioner, if there is a single European programme that is immediately recognisable by the youth, it is no doubt that of Erasmus. Since its formation back in 1987, when only 3 244 students participated in the programme, Erasmus has been growing and growing, growing not only in numbers but also in terms of visibility and created friendships. Of course we want this important programme to be accessible to everyone. In 2014, the Erasmus+ youth inclusion and diversity strategy was introduced to ensure this aim. With this report we underline that we should do everything possible to help people with less opportunities or from disadvantaged backgrounds to participate in the programme. We need to remove all possible barriers. The necessary steps towards further improving Erasmus could be increasing funding and less bureaucracy, as well as recognising the role of staff in youth organisations. I would end my words in thanking Laurence Farreng for her excellent work and perfect cooperation and preparation of this important report.

Mr President, Osman Kavala is sentenced to life in prison because the President of Turkey wants it so. Turkish—Cypriot journalist Şener Levent, although Cypriot, is sentenced to prison in Turkey because President Erdoğan wants it so. The great poet, Nazım Hikmet, could not describe it better. Hence, I paraphrase his poem Microcosmos, and dedicate it to Kavala. Our world is small among stars, but so very small. And Asia is one fifth of the world. And Turkey is a country in Asia and Europe. Istanbul is a city in Turkey. Osman Kavala a man in Istanbul. And I am bringing you the news, in Turkey, in the city of Istanbul, they stopped on his way a man who was walking and they chained him. And I don’t bother anymore to lift my head towards the bright skies. If the stars are far, if the earth is small, I don’t care at all. I don’t mind. I want you to know that I find it more astonishing, more powerful, more mysterious and gigantic, this man stopped on his way and chained.

Madam President, the extreme right in Europe wants to dissolve the European Union and go back to separate nation states. The Putin regime works also for the failure of the EU. The extreme right wants to replace pluralist democracy with so—called illiberal democracy. Together with President Putin, they undermine the rule of law. They prefer Sparta to Athenian democracy. Both the Putin regime and the extreme right in Europe are implementing the politics of . The populist nationalists are mobilising the anger of the masses, and the Putin regime is acting against Western civilization out of envy and hatred. Allow me to emphasise that not only President Putin wants to see the EU dissolve, but also some forces elsewhere, like in Washington. It was one of the advisors of President Trump who wanted to coordinate the right—wing populists in Europe. To fight against all this, however, we should review our economic policies and create a socially just European Union. We need to minimise the inequalities which are a source of anger and ressentiment. Dear President, like elsewhere, in my country Cyprus also, the separatists are looking up to Russia. They hope that the Russian separatist movement in Ukraine will help show that my country, Cyprus, remains divided forever. We have to challenge separatist movements, and the best way to fight against separatism is to create functional, multicultural democracies. This is our challenge.

Mr President! I will start in German and continue with Greek. First, a quote: "You don't have to be a nuclear scientist to see the difference between fleeing the distant Muslim world and Ukrainians fleeing the Ukrainian-Russian war," said Viktor Orbán. And I say: You don't have to be a nuclear scientist to understand that these words are words of racism. Κύριε Πρόεδρε, βεβαίως ο κύριος ρμπαν και πολλοί σαν αυτόν μπορούν να είναι και περήφανοι που είναι ρατσιστές. Δυστυχώς βλέπουμε σε ολόκληρη την Ευρωπακή ρνωση την άνοδο ακροδεξιών ομάδων και πρέπει να τις αντιμετωπίσουμε αποφασιστικά. Οι ιδρυτές της Ευρωπακής ωνωσης ήξεραν πολύ καλά ότι ο ρατσισμός και ο εθνικισμός σημαίνουν πόλεμο. ξξεραν πάρα πολύ καλά ότι η Ευρώπη πρέπει να νικήσει τον εθνικισμό για να έχει μόνιμη ειρήνη. Τόσα χρόνια μετά δυστυχώς δεν μπορούμε να πούμε ότι εξασφαλίσαμε τη μόνιμη ειρήνη. Η έκθεση που συζητάμε σήμερα για την καταπολέμη του ρατσισμού έρχεται στην κατάλληλη στιγμή και θέλω να ευχαριστήσω θερμά την εισηγήτρια γι’ αυτήν την έκθεση.

Mr President, 2022 will be dedicated to European youth, which, during the last decade, has been affected both by the financial crisis and COVID—19, and has really suffered a lot. Now young people will be in our focus. The European Year of Youth is a genuine opportunity for young people so that they are at the centre of our policies. Most importantly, I wish that they themselves will be involved in the decision—making process at every level – at local, regional, national and EU level. The youth should be part of the whole design. It must genuinely become a year from the youth to the youth. That would be the real benefit of the year. Young people’s needs and desires are well known. Engagement and political participation, connections and exchange of experiences, education and empowerment, and, of course, employment, are the basic demands of young people. What is at stake now is to find solutions to these problems, solutions which show the outcome of a direct involvement and participation of youth. That is the aim and the challenge of a European Year of Youth. Let me finish with a concluding remark. For everything to be in place by the start of the year, everyone who was involved in this procedure had to work hard and under time pressure. I hope this was a one—time procedure and shall not be repeated in the future.

Mr President, unfortunately, domestic violence remains a widespread phenomenon in Europe. One in five women in a relationship have experienced physical and or sexual violence by a partner or ex-partner. In many countries, half of family murder victims are killed by a partner or a relative. Despite all of these undeniable facts, some EU Member States are refusing to ratify the Istanbul Convention. Some go so far as to consider it as promoting destructive gender ideology or same sex marriage. This is virtual patriarchy, which is one of the main reasons for the victimisation of women. It is a fact that low-level gender equality is one of the causes of gender violence. So also is toxic masculinity. Let’s ratify the Istanbul Convention, but be aware that patriarchal structures cannot be deconstructed only with legal measures. We need also deep-rooted changes in all levels of life. We need absolute gender equality. Above all, we need to raise our voice against patriarchy.

Madam President, in the Greek language a journalist is called dimosiográfos, meaning someone who writes and informs people. Democracy means dimoskratía: people’s rule. If a people or a community of citizens is not freely informed, we cannot talk of democracy. Unfortunately, media freedom violations in the EU reached their highest in the past five years. It’s unacceptable that journalists are intimidated, pressurised, attacked verbally and physically and even killed. The World Press Freedom Index shows the tragic fall of Poland from 18th to number 64. Polish national media channels broadcast pro-government propaganda only, excluding opposition and minority groups. The education system is equally problematic. Nationalism and ressentiment are dominant concepts in the education system. My country – Cyprus – is not any better. Recently the Minister of Education in Cyprus ordered to tear out a page from a book because he disliked it. Madam President, we are not doing well. It is high time that we take all the necessary steps so that the Member States respect fundamental values.