Speeches

The next item on the agenda is the debate on the statements by the Council and the Commission on the alleged espionage activities of the Hungarian government in the EU institutions (2025/2941(RSP)).

Mr President, Commissioner! Free media is the backbone of democracy. They make sure that what the powerful want to hide and what people have a right to know comes to light. Murders of journalists are not always investigated. I would like to remind you of a case that is rarely mentioned here in the European Parliament: the one by Giorgos Karaivaz, murdered in April 2021, whose murderer is still running free after four years. This is also how we see a functioning rule of law: how he can protect journalists, how he can protect the media from intimidation, from violence, from abusive lawsuits, from so many dangers they face – through a functioning police force and an independent judiciary and a vibrant civil society that can protest unhindered against the powerful. Whether this will now also happen in Italy, whether this assassination will be solved, Italy will have to be measured against it.

If I understood correctly, you called a colleague an apologist. I would like to remind you – I'll put it that way – that we owe each other a respectful demeanour here.

The next item on the agenda is the debate on the Commission statement on the recent Middle East peace agreement and the role of the EU (2025/2930(RSP)).

Mrs Demirel, if I have understood this correctly, you have said that the European states, that the European Union is committing acts of sabotage. I am not giving you any additional speaking time, I just wanted to say that I will present this to the President for review.

In accordance with Rule 251(4) of the Rules of Procedure, I would like to inform you that no request for a vote has been made on the corrections notified to the Assembly at the opening of the sitting on Monday 6 October. The corrections are therefore deemed to have been adopted and will be published on the Plenary website.

The following vote concerns the joint motion for a resolution by three political groups on the situation in Colombia following the recent wave of terrorist attacks (see point 9.10 of the Protocol).

(Following the pause) OK, can we resume now, please? Please come back to the voting tables. (Dissent from some MEPs) Please come back to the voting tables. (Murmurs of dissent) Dear colleagues, this is something quite normal. We do it very often, we do it if you ask for it, and if others ask for it we always do this. (Protests) So please come back to the vote now. Please all take your seats again, and we will vote on the resolution as a whole. (Further protests) Dear colleagues, we're still colleagues, right? We're still colleagues. So, please.

The following vote concerns the motions for resolutions on the Gaza Strip in the margins of resilience – EU action to combat famine and urgently needed release of hostages and implementation of the two-state solution (see point 9.9 of the Protocol).

The following vote concerns Anna-Maja Henriksson's report on the implementation and streamlining of EU internal market rules to strengthen the internal market (see point 9.7 of the Protocol).

The following vote concerns the report by Laurence Farreng on a new future strategy for the European Universities Alliances (see point 9.6 of the Protocol).

The following vote concerns the report by Alex Agius Saliba on making traveller protection more effective and simplifying and clarifying certain aspects of package travel and linked travel services (see point 9.5 of the Protocol).

The following vote concerns the joint motion for a resolution by five political groups on the case of Abdoul Aziz Goma, who was arbitrarily detained in Togo (see point 9.4 of the Protocol).

The following vote concerns the joint motion for a resolution by five political groups on the Victoire Ingabire case in Rwanda (see point 9.3 of the Protocol).

(Tumults) Dear colleagues, I would like to explain it again. The question of whether a minute of silence will be held is a prerogative of the President. There have been several applications on this topic and all applicants have been informed that there is no minute of silence. I abide by the President's decision. (Interruptions, unrest and applause) The following vote concerns the joint motion for a resolution by five political groups on the arrest of EU citizens in the occupied territories of Cyprus (see point 9.2 of the Protocol).

The following vote concerns Stefano Bonaccini's report on cooperation between enforcement authorities on unfair trading practices in the agri-food supply chain (see point 9.1 of the Protocol).