Speeches

Madam President, Commissioner, the fact that you did not go to Ankara does not matter much. Let's admit it: Erdoğan has you in hand. There's no other explanation. He jails mayors, arrests thousands of Turkish citizens, exterminates his political opponents. Mr von der Leyen and Mr Kallas and the majority of European leaders appeased him. We are absent, bent and fatal. You pretend you don't see his totalitarianism. You even put him on the right side of the story. Who? - Who? Erdoğan. You have now declared him the guarantor of European security to serve your warlike plans. You will give him many billions of our pockets to equip you. It's a disgrace! Ask Turkey for what is self-evident – respect for democratic principles, the rule of law and human rights – at last. Stop putting Europe itself on the wrong side of history. Or is there no stopping the downhill? What do you say?

Mr. President, you're finally gonna do it, aren't you? Through a war frenzy, you will spend 800 billion, which you do not have, on the so-called common defense. But for there to be a common defence, there must also be a common foreign policy. There are too many reluctants here. You are committing illegal, anti-institutional misconduct and proclaiming Turkey the guarantor of European security. It's a disgrace! Allegedly to support Ukraine and its people. Tell the truth, what you want, through a vulgar bargain with the Americans, is the country's rare earths and wealth. Tell the truth at last. You will bankrupt European peoples and enrich the merchants of death, to move European economies through armaments. You've already confessed: Hand in hand with the sinful NATO you will walk. European autonomy, of course, is also on the way. Commissioner, you are sowing winds and the European people will reap storms. The ball is now at the feet of the European peoples. Only they can stop you.

Mr President, Commissioner, we are again here for Turkey, a country with the highest prison rates of all the member states of the Council of Europe. A country that, while saying that it is negotiating with Öcalan for a peaceful settlement with the Kurds, at the same time represses the opposition, jails and removes democratically elected Kurdish mayors from their positions. Here, obviously, something's wrong. We ask Turkey for the obvious and you should ask for them too. That is, to respect democratic values, the rule of law, human rights and comply with European Union law. These are absolute criteria that cannot be included in an oriental bazaar without principles. Turkey cannot rank, as some European officials say, on the right side of history while behaving with authoritarianism. Neither can you, however, sacrifice everything for money and to serve some interests. Mrs von der Leyen must say this and demand it from Mr Erdoğan when they meet. I hope he can.

Mr President, it strikes me that some people only see missing persons in Ukraine. They also talk about Gaza, but they don't tell us that there are only Palestinians missing in Gaza. Nor do they tell us about the tens of thousands of missing persons that emerged from fascist dictatorial regimes in Europe. There are, of course, the missing persons in Cyprus. Unfortunately, for many decades the issue of missing persons in Cyprus, perhaps the most tragic aspect of this problem, has continued. The list of course is enriched by Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot missing persons and the pain for mothers, siblings and relatives is common. Of course, the Committee on Missing Persons is supported by the European Union, but this support is not enough, because Turkey continues to present obstacles, difficulties and misinformation. Thus, the responsibilities of the European Union and the international community are now even more important in the direction of pressuring Turkey, forcing it to open its military archives, providing information and data on the missing. I refer characteristically to the case of the missing persons of Assia, my village. There, the Turkish army executed 70 people in cold blood and threw them into a well. In 1996 they were moved to a garbage dump in Dikomo. There is also my uncle, my uncle Kleanthis. We want their bones back, to bury them as befits the dead. We're not asking for much. We want to act now. We owe it to the memory of the victims. We owe it to their families who need to know the truth.

Mr President, Commissioner, the planet is literally burning. It is affected by droughts, storms and heatwaves that cause loss of life and property, irreparably damage the natural environment and lead to water scarcity. This is called climate change. Oh, that's wrong. Let's call it a crisis and let Trump and his like in here mock it as a silly story. I'm going to believe, of course, that Europe is not going back either. You are generously giving billions for defense and militarization, pledging the future of future generations. But when it comes to the green transition, you are tightening the belts too much. Boost green capitalism by giving too many gifts to the so-called green transition industrialists. At last tax the rich polluters, not the poor and middle popular strata, not the global South that bears the brunt of climate impacts. Commissioner, the disaster lies ahead of you. Do something about it. You may not have another chance.

Mr President, Mrs Kallas, Assad, the dictator, has fallen and the festivities, like those for Iraq and Libya, have begun. We saw, of course, what spring it brought for its peoples. And now who's here? The terrorists until yesterday, outlawed jihadists, bloodthirsty murderers, who now you, too, baptize them as liberators and honorable interlocutors. What a hypocrisy! For years, Syria's territorial sovereignty was abolished and the European Union did not speak out. It wasn't, you see, Ukraine. The script is a nightmare. Syria is threatened with dismemberment. They share her clothes, her pieces, the Russians and the Americans. The Turks invaded and occupied areas, mercilessly hitting the Kurds. Netanyahu's criminal indictee is making illegal settlements in the Golan Heights to build a great Israel. Let me remind you, in case you forgot, that the genocide in Gaza continues. Europe as usual is absent. Do the minimum. Ensure the territorial integrity and unity of Syria. Let the tortured Syrian people decide freely about their future.

Madam President, Commissioner, climate change, desertification, the reckless use of pesticides and the destruction of the environment threaten water in Europe. Lack of access to water is a major obstacle to development, to poverty eradication, to building a peaceful future. Nowadays, you know, there are wars over water, not just oil. The problem is particularly acute and evident in the Mediterranean region. This region is home to a large part of the world's population living in water poverty. And my country, Cyprus, is once again at the heart of this crisis. The human right to quality water has not been guaranteed to all people. That is why we need to take immediate action. Protect its public character and not allow the privatization of the sector for profit for the few. Europe to subsidise small private seawater treatment plants. Respond to water losses from water supply systems. Life without water cannot exist. Let this not be sacrificed on the altar of capitalist profit.

Mr President, as is well known, on 15 November 1983 the Turkish Cypriot leadership led by Rauf Denktash declared the pseudo-state in Cyprus to be the culmination of Turkey's dichotomous policy. This is an action that continues to this day to violate every principle of international law. In Cyprus there are neither two states nor two peoples. There are Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots in Cyprus who have been suffering for years from the same causes – the Turkish occupation army, settlements and the denial of basic human rights for all our people. We demand that the occupation be abolished, but also that the status quo be stopped. We insist on the solution of the Cyprus problem – a bizonal bicommunal federation solution with political equality – and on the reunification of Cyprus and its people. Only in this way can the pseudo-state be abolished. Not with shouting. Otherwise, we are led to the nightmare of partition, with all the suffering it can bring to Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots. 50 years of occupation, Mr President, is too much. Our people, our children, demand a peaceful future. We, as the Left in Cyprus, will continue this struggle to the end.

Mr President, Commissioner, Azerbaijan is the place where the European Union's alleged concern for human rights and international law meets natural gas. Does it look unbelievable? In 2022, however, Ursula von der Leyen stated that Azerbaijan is a reliable supplier and signed agreements to double Azerbaijan’s annual gas exports to the European Union. No human rights violations saw nor illegal arrests and imprisonments of political prisoners, journalists and human rights defenders saw · neither heard of the violent persecution of 100 000 Armenians nor of the attempt to upgrade and recognise the pseudo-state in Cyprus. While all this is happening, some have the audacity to move their fingers to third countries and present themselves as the global human rights defender. We will not be involved in all of this. That is why we are calling for the immediate cancellation of the agreement on a strategic partnership between Azerbaijan and the European Union in the field of energy.

Madam President, Commissioner, many journalists are being unfairly killed on the battlefields in Ukraine and Gaza, for which I have not heard a word of course. We honor them today. But did you hear what Mrs. Metsola told us yesterday? Let's not talk about the situation in Gaza, because in recent days nothing dramatic has happened there. It's a shame. Can't anyone hear the cry of the children killed by Israeli bombs? The crying is the same whether it is heard from Ukraine or Gaza. How can you sleep at night? We will not become part of this hypocrisy and absurdity. We will talk about both the victims of Hamas and the journalists, wherever they are killed. You won't silence us. We will be talking about the 50,000 victims of Israeli atrocity, the Netanyahu genocide, the 16,000 Palestinian dead children, the leveling of Gaza, which UNICEF itself says has become the embodiment of hell on Earth. Commissioner, we will be talking about not being ashamed in the future when the real story is told.

Madam President, Commissioner, I too had the honour of taking part in the UN Summit on the Future, a meeting which took place at a particularly difficult international juncture. Wars, climate crisis, poverty. Today, humanity faces an existential threat. What was agreed in the Pact for the Future, for peace and security, sustainable development and its financing, digital cooperation, youth and human rights sounds good. Is it sufficient? No, I don't. We live at a time when, while wars and conflicts are growing rapidly, we are witnessing a spectacular decline in diplomacy. Some countries do not respect UN resolutions, while at the same time scolding its secretary-general. Persona non grata! That sounded too! We must boldly reform the UN Council to include the ever-emerging global South. We must put an end to the colonial and neo-colonial approaches that have condemned millions of people to poverty and destitution, thereby financing our own prosperity. We are talking about the need to finance development in these third countries, without touching on the serious issue of writing off their debt. Now is the time to radically change direction. Otherwise, what we write and proclaim will have no more value than the ink spent on writing it.

(non-microphone principle of intervention) ...and we grieve for the Israeli victims of Hamas on the seventh of October. Does Israel have the right to self-defense? Clearly. What is happening is not self-defense. It is an ongoing ethnic cleansing and genocide. It dissolves Gaza, it bombs Iraq, Syria, Yemen, it invades Lebanon which is going to become a new Gaza, as you said, it takes Iran's turn and then what? A regional war that will set fire to the entire Middle East, to build the New Middle East through rivers of blood. This is the goal of Israel, the Americans and a part of the European Union. You fed the beast with guns and money, and now he doesn't count on anyone. Neither you, Mr. Borrell, nor the Secretary-General of the United Nations. He's only counting on his own survival. We are saddened by all this, because no one is referring to the need to establish a Palestinian state. We are saddened, above all, because we know that there are instigators and accomplices behind this crime.

Mr President, Commissioner, Europe and – in particular – the Mediterranean countries are facing the problem of water scarcity as a consequence of climate change. In my country, Cyprus, the repercussions are particularly dramatic, with huge damage to crops. That is why, as a left-wing group, we called for the plenary to commit to a resolution calling on the European Union to actively support its members in tackling the effects of water scarcity on human health, agriculture, the economy and the environment. Unfortunately, our request was rejected. Let everyone finally take responsibility. Endless debates are not enough; projects are needed. Climate change, which afflicts our farmers, is also the result of some European policies, to be frank, which sacrifice the environment and public health on the altar of big companies' profit. We will continue to fight for the protection of the environment and for the just demands of farmers. We call on you to actively support farmers from the agricultural reserve and to make public investments to create desalination plants, among other things, to address the problem of water scarcity.

Madam President, Commissioner, respect for human rights and the rule of law are non-negotiable values for all and – of course – also for Cuba. But this supposed sensitivity of the anti-Cuban lobby that we have heard here tonight about democracy and freedoms in Cuba is hypocritical. Is there a greater violation of human rights than the illegal imposition of the barbaric US embargo against the Cuban people? If the Cuban people are in a dramatic situation, it is for this very reason. Why don't you talk about it? They have literally drowned Cuba and its proud people for 65 years because they chose to take their fate into their own hands. You don't say a word about it. Here, even UN resolutions on the need to lift the embargo against Cuba are violated. Leave the Americans and cheap anti-communism. The European Union – after Draghi says it wants to become autonomous – should develop a dialogue with Cuba on the basis of honesty, equality and reciprocity. Let this proud people live freely on the path they have chosen.

Madam President, Commissioner, history is well known. Listen to her. When the Germans went to Paris, a Nazi officer visited Picasso in his laboratory. Seeing Guernica, the painting of this small Spanish town flattened by Franco with his fascist allies, he asked him: Did you do that? "No," he said, "you." Gaza is the new Guernica these days. When questioned in the future by another Picasso, he will answer that these atrocities and this genocide were committed by the arch-murderer Netanyahu together with his allies; the United States, NATO and the European Union. Gaza is the great disgrace of the Western capitalist world. Already in its ruins were buried the last examples of humanity and sensitivity of the European Union. I ask: How much more blood do you have to shed to get excited? How many deaths will you respond to? Why do you continue to support Netanyahu, a war criminal?

Madam President, Commissioner, let us speak frankly. In Ukraine, it is not only Zelenskyy who is fighting against Putin. In Ukraine, NATO and the European Union are fighting against Russia. And don't tell us we're pro-Putin now to get it over with, because we're not. That's the truth. We defend peace. But you also have to tell your own truth. That you don't care at all about the thousands of young Ukrainians and Russians milled by the war meat grinder in a war waged over fossil fuels, energy, pipelines and to serve imperialist geopolitical rivalries. You're already preparing us for war. Draghi said so; EUR 500 billion for the defence industry over the next ten years. That is, public money to speculate on the war industries. This will dismantle the welfare state, health and education in Europe. And - I say - stop sending weapons at last. Ukraine and Europe need peace, not war.

Madam President, thank you for mentioning this sad anniversary. Fifty years is a long time. Fifty years since the double crime against the Cypriot people. A coup d'état was carried out after it was first organized by NATO. It was carried out by the junta of Athens and the fascist EOKA B in our country. This was followed, unfortunately, by the barbaric Turkish invasion five days later, with tragic consequences. Thousands of dead, missing and a settlement that threatens to diversify my country demographically. We ask you for practical help. Not in words; with projects. I understand that for many, for the Union itself, Turkey is valuable. But it is more valuable – if we want Europe to rise to the occasion – for Europe to uphold international law, to contribute to peace in the region, for talks to resume from where they were left in Crans Montana and for our people, Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, to pacify with a bizonal bicommunal federation solution. It would be a blessing for us if in practice you contributed in this direction.

Mr President, Commissioner, Members of the European Parliament are being monitored again with illegal software. This story must finally end. The PEGA Committee worked very hard and gave you everything: Facts, "sinful" companies, names and addresses, guilty states. We also made recommendations. What don't you understand? Aren't you tired of hiding behind inexpensive rhetoric? And here you are, verbally condemning. Words, words, words. Even the Americans imposed sanctions on NSO and Intellexa. Your committee's reaction is deplorable. You caress the Israelis – so much love for them now? –, you cover up the illegalities of European governments, you undermine democracy, you violate our human rights. Now, I'm sure. You do it consciously. But you know that toleration of a crime is considered complicity. Ban these devilish illegal software at last. Or am I asking too much?

Madam President, Commissioner, all of Europe, but also my country, Cyprus, is facing a housing crisis. Rising energy prices, high inflation, austerity policies and stagnant wages make home ownership an elusive dream. One million European citizens are homeless, 40 million people are over-indebted. Poor and middle-class households spend 40% of their income on rent. Single-parent families are mercilessly affected. Young workers and students are paying huge costs. With the new Stability Pact and, so called, Growth, fiscal policies are being implemented leading to a new wave of austerity. If we really want to reduce the problem, there are solutions: new quality jobs, ensuring a minimum and decent income, financial assistance to young people and students, freezing and setting a ceiling on rent, financing new apartments by the State at affordable prices. Let some of them be.

Mr President, Mr Reynders, when you say that we should do and have things, who do you say them to? To us? And what's your job, then? The PEGA Committee worked very hard for fifteen months. We gave you everything: Facts, sinful corporations, names and addresses, guilty states. We also made recommendations, because the problem is very serious. No one was touched. Neither did the government of Cyprus, of course, of my own country, which had too much to do. The reaction of your Committee, if you will excuse me, is deplorable. You are not legislating. You refer us to the national authorities. They are infringing on the grounds of national security and the public interest. The surveillance scandals have no end. Software production and export companies are hoarding. You whistle indifferently. Democracy, whatever democracy you have, is on its way. So much indifference now? Finally, do something. Preserve your prestige.

Mr President, last June, Mrs von der Leyen said that Ukrainians are ready to sacrifice themselves for the European perspective. Previously, with the outbreak of the war, they were arbitrarily and emotionally granted the status of acceding country. I wonder if these are considered criteria for enlargement. Madam Vice-President, you said that criteria must be respected. Recently, the European Court of Auditors stated that there are insufficient anti-corruption safeguards in Ukraine, while also talking about systemic risk from oligarchs and vested interests. Where does the rule of law test go? The issue I am raising concerns neither Ukraine, nor Moldova, nor any other accession country. If they want it and deserve it, let them take it. But are we lowering the standards too low through any enlargement, serving other expediencies? Do the peoples and their interests, their democratisation and prosperity, or the service of geopolitical expediencies by powerful states of the Union ultimately matter?

Mr President, Commissioner, we are tired of hearing big words. Fortunately, there are honest journalists - and I congratulate them, of course - to reveal to us the depth of a system of corruption and collusion. It is this system that, by their inaction and their addiction to opacity, the institutions of the European Union, tax havens and the protection of thefts in the name of the free market are safeguarding themselves. Presidents, prime ministers and other national officials are occasionally involved in scandals. Unfortunately, the former president of my own country, Mr. Anastasiades, along with a handful of clever people. Our people, however, the people of Cyprus, you know, are not a thief. They are honest people who are hard to deal with and angry at what they hear. Because they know that nothing will happen here or in my country. Let me remind you of the Panama Papers. Did you do something? You will talk to us and you have already told us about various legislations, as if that is the problem, while at the same time some people are cunningly closing their eyes to corruption and collusion. Because the problem is systemic. Because a proverb says: One hand washes the other and both the face. That's as simple as that.

Mr President, gentlemen, you invoke the political deadlocks of the Union and the fear of the far right to change the Treaties and abolish unanimity in decision-making. You're pretending you don't see the elephant in the room. He is neoliberal and feeds on austerity policies, authoritarianism in decision-making, climate change, tax evasion, free-market arbitrariness, inhumane immigration policy, violence against women and non-defence of peace. And I wonder if you can sleep at night. Let's be honest. It is simply not about overcoming the political deadlocks of the Union or the far right. The far right, after all, you need it once in a while and you invoke and instrumentalize it. You just want to silence the voice of small states, to strengthen powerful states too. In this way, however, this very democracy will be greatly undermined. Your beautiful proclamations do not convince us. Change policies together with the Treaties, but in the opposite direction. But I guess you don't want to and you can't.

Madam President, Commissioner, these days we are witnessing an ongoing history of crime against a long-suffering people, the Armenians. They are again victims of ethnic cleansing by Mr Aliyev, a close associate of Mr Erdoğan – but unfortunately also a close associate of the European Union itself. Ms von der Leyen only recently shook hands with Mr Aliyev. Azeri gas, I wonder, comes before people's lives and hypocritical declarations of democracy and human rights? Through intense geopolitical confrontations over control of its energy sources and transport, traditional friends – we know who they are – but also late Armenian allies – the United States, NATO, the European Union – have left Armenians at Aliyev’s mercy. This is how the hypocrisy of those who speak today of an international legal order emerges, and what remains in the end are the double standards and the tragedies of the peoples. These days are days of grief and pain.

Mr President, Commissioner, we are well aware of Turkey and Erdogan, as well as the hypocritical attitude of the European Union, in order to serve its commercial, economic and geopolitical purposes. In Turkey, the rule of law and human rights are being violated, prisons are being filled with political prisoners, electoral processes are being rigged, the Kurdish community is being brutally repressed. A classic definition of an authoritarian state. In addition, Turkey's provocative and illegal actions abroad continue. Syria, Libya, migration, continued occupation of Cyprus, settlement of Varosha, violation of the buffer zone in Pyla, demand for two states, persecution of our progressive Turkish Cypriot compatriots. I would remind you, Commissioner, that if there are two sides in Cyprus, these are the Republic of Cyprus on the one hand and the occupying power on the other. So what do you guys do? What does Europe do? Are you cutting him off for membership? He doesn't want it, and neither do you, to be honest. But you are falling at Erdogan's feet to enlarge NATO, to get away from Putin, to align with the Union's foreign policy. And you offer him gifts, gifts that are expensive. A special relationship of upgrading the customs union without respecting the existing, visa liberalization, gold trading. Things unacceptable, as it will have no obligation neither the Cyprus problem to resolve, nor democracy to build, nor to stop behaving like a pirate in the Mediterranean. But we feel that we have obligations towards European citizens and you towards your history. Is that what you want? Is this a principled policy? I don't think so.