What Irena spoke about.

22

Jan

2025

SL Speech

Watch

Uniting Europe against actors hostile to the EU: time to strengthen our security and defence (topical debate)

Madam President! Colleagues and colleagues! It is great that we have this debate about uniting Europe against actors hostile to the Union. There seems to be no shortage of these lately. I always say that we can only be strong and independent if we are united and act as one. But the defence of the European Union does not just mean an increase in military expenditure. To some extent, of course, I un…

21

Jan

2025

EN Answer

Watch

Need to enforce the Digital Services Act to protect democracy on social media platforms including against foreign interference and biased algorithms (debate)

I didn't do a personal attack just for, you know, a report on you, or anyone else. I think that we need informed people for democratic society to function. Disinformation can only be destroyed by those who know how to distinguish it from the truth. When people will be informed properly and not trust manipulators, then we will be on our way to know also how to distinguish those things.…

21

Jan

2025

EN Speech

Watch

Need to enforce the Digital Services Act to protect democracy on social media platforms including against foreign interference and biased algorithms (debate)

Madam President, I stand here astounded that we've reached a point where we must debate the enforcement of our own laws. The DSA is not an optional guideline, okay? It carries the full weight of democratic legitimacy, crafted with care to balance all interests, and overwhelmingly supported here in this House and by the Council. Where does our sovereignty lie if the enforcement of our legislation h…

20

Jan

2025

EN Speech

Watch

Ceasefire in Gaza - the urgent need to release the hostages, to end the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and to pave the way for a two-state solution (debate)

Mr President, it has been long, harrowing, unbearable and devastating 471 days. Long overdue, but here it is – a beam of hope. Even though it's the most hopeful I have been, I'm still worried, especially about the statements made by Benjamin Netanyahu. He is constantly stressing the ceasefire is temporary and his willingness to return to fighting in new, more forceful ways, indicating he is keen t…

18

Dec

2024

SL Speech

Watch

Tackling abusive subcontracting and labour market intermediaries (debate)

Mr President. What do the most common violations of labour rights, social dumping and unfair competition have in common? Abuse of subcontracting practices through complex and non-transparent subcontracting chains. Can you imagine your life without construction, agriculture, tourism, transport? These are precisely the sectors in which abuses of labour practices occur most frequently and within whic…

17

Dec

2024

SL Speech

Watch

Misinformation and disinformation on social media platforms, such as TikTok, and related risks to the integrity of elections in Europe (debate)

Mr President! Underestimation, colleagues. We are underestimating the risk of social networks having an impact on the results of elections. With enough advertising money, you can reach a lot of people who wouldn't otherwise. Meanwhile, more and more people are getting news, such and different, only through social networks, not so much, unfortunately, through professional media. The recent case in …

26

Nov

2024

EN Speech

Watch

Continued escalation in the Middle East: the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and the West Bank, UNRWA’s essential role in the region, the need to release all hostages and the recent ICC arrest warrants (debate)

Mr President, I used to believe that the European Union embodies its core values, but how can anyone still believe that? What we are witnessing is crimes against humanity. Israel went as far as to making targeted deadly attacks on UNRWA staff and property, and when that didn't make them leave, they decided to ban them. Still, the EU's silence and failure to condemn Israel's actions means we are de…

24

Oct

2024

SL Speech

Watch

Abuse of new technologies to manipulate and radicalise young people through hate speech and antidemocratic discourse (debate)

Madam President! History repeats itself. This is always my first thought when following the development of destructive propaganda rhetoric, which is increasingly being used by extremists. The purpose is clear: separation, destabilisation of a democratic society. This same hostile ideology with the same ideas and the same way of communicating was once pushed to the extreme after painful lessons. Bu…

22

Oct

2024

EN Speech

Watch

Urgent need for a ceasefire in Lebanon and for safeguarding the UNIFIL mission in light of the recent attacks (debate)

Madam President, the escalation of conflict in the Middle East is horrifying, but who is really to blame? Every day, another attack. Every day, tens of civilians dead, another hospital bombed. Displaced people seeking refuge still become targets in bombed and burnt shelters. Population of Palestine, Gaza, population of Lebanon – even UNIFIL peacekeepers – have nowhere to hide from bombs, destructi…

10

Oct

2024

SL Speech

Watch

World Mental Health Day - need for a comprehensive EU strategy on mental health (debate)

Mr President. Health - unfortunately for most of us taken for granted until it is no longer there. If the decline of the physical is still observed, the decline of the mental is too often not detected or even ignored. It's a big mistake. We politicians and society as a whole, because we have still not provided adequate awareness and education, because our public health systems still do not provide…

9

Oct

2024

SL Speech

Watch

Ensuring sustainable, decent and affordable housing in Europe - encouraging investment, private property and public housing programmes (debate)

Mr President! No matter how many times we have heard in this Chamber that we want a progressive and competitive European Union in which prosperity prevails. Absolutely! But how will we ensure this as long as it is difficult, if at all, for our citizens to afford a roof over their heads? It is unacceptable that the European rules currently in place only protect the profits made in the housing marke…

19

Sep

2024

SL Speech

Watch

Droughts and extreme weather events as a threat to local communities and EU agriculture in times of climate change (debate)

Mr President! Recent floods in Central Europe. Fires in Portugal, Greece, drought in southern Italy, Spain. The whole of Europe, the whole world, in fact, is facing climate change or its terrible consequences. And we have to remember that every year it will only get worse. I'm sorry. Over the past term, we have done a lot to be more responsive to crises. I am not saying, we have improved the mecha…

17

Sep

2024

SL Speech

Watch

War in the Gaza Strip and the situation in the Middle-East (debate)

Madam President! Do you know what I'm holding in my hands, colleagues? Fourteen pages of dead, murdered babies. I didn't even come to those children who had at least their first birthday, let alone adults. Because – all pages are 649. And this is data only until the end of August. And only for those who have been able to identify them. And that's 34,344 dead, 11,355 children. In fact, there are th…

24

Apr

2024

SL Speech

Watch

Statistics on population and housing (A9-0284/2023 - Irena Joveva) (vote)

Madam President. We are ahead of the vote on the regulation on European statistics, on population and housing, which did not receive much political attention in the negotiation process with the Council. Totally unjustified. Brexit has happened, we have faced a pandemic, we are addressing climate change and migration trends. We have started to prepare for the digital transformation. We are living a…

23

Apr

2024

SL Speech

Watch

EU’s response to the repeated killing of humanitarian aid workers, journalists and civilians by the Israel Defence Forces in the Gaza Strip (debate)

Dear President! Thank you! This time I will not show you the horrific photos from Gaza. Not because I'm afraid I'll be interrupted. In this case, I am not at all moved by the rules of this house. But only because this time I will describe to you with numbers a reality from which you can not hide even those who, even with my photos, closed their eyes at the time. Those who do not acknowledge the ab…

13

Mar

2024

SL Speech

Watch

The immediate risk of mass starvation in Gaza and the attacks on humanitarian aid deliveries

Mr President. This is Yazan. And that's for those of you who deceive yourself. Yazan became the face of famine in Gaza. Remember him, those of you who will again be against an immediate ceasefire. Those of you who are still (the President interrupts the speaker) are always against the sanctions of Israel. We have accused Hamas countless times, of course we are, still Mrs. We have also called on Is…

12

Mar

2024

SL Speech

Watch

EU climate risk assessment, taking urgent action to improve security and resilience in Europe (debate)

Madam President. The horror, that was my first thought when reading the report published yesterday by the European Environment Agency, because the reality of the current situation and the predicted future are, to put it mildly, scary. According to all scientifically proven information about the deterioration of the situation in Europe, which according to indicators is the continent with the fastes…

12

Mar

2024

SL Speech

Watch

European Media Freedom Act (debate)

Mr President. Without freedom of the media, there is no democracy. Media freedom is under threat in many places, including in Europe. In the most horrific form, we have seen this in the murders of journalists Jan Kuciak or Daphne Caruana Galizia. This is because it is about the abuse of power in silencing journalists, subjugating or politically taking over the media for the purpose of manipulating…

28

Feb

2024

SL Speech

Watch

Deepening EU integration in view of future enlargement (debate)

Madam President! The integration and enlargement of the European Union should, of course, take place at the same time, but not on the basis of one another. We've been talking a lot about this lately, and rightly so. But unfortunately there is a huge gap between what we are talking about here and the positions of the Member States, which actually have scissors and canvas exclusively in their hands.…

27

Feb

2024

SL Speech

Watch

Rising inequalities in the world (debate)

Mr. President! Of all the crises that have marked this mandate, the one that will certainly have the longest lasting impact is the one that spreads silently and which – to my mind incomprehensibly – is not even recognised as a crisis. Growing inequality. We talk too little about it in this house, but it really reveals many other things to us. Inequality in the world, for example, is a key cause of…

7

Feb

2024

SL Speech

Watch

Need to fight the increase of antisemitism and anti-Muslim hatred (debate)

Madam President! Yes, anti-Semitism is on the rise, and yes, anti-Islamism or anti-Muslim hatred is on the rise. Let's be honest and say both. Let's also be honest about why. The escalation of the situation in Gaza. Because of the war in Gaza. Because of the genocide that Israel has been perpetrating for four months – the least – against the Palestinian people. But even if it is triggered as a aft…

7

Feb

2024

SL Speech

Watch

The fight against hate speech and disinformation: responsibility of social platforms within the Digital Services Act (topical debate)

Madam President! Many of us, who are now here in this Chamber, have been striving to make sure that the really good, historical legislation of the rules online has come into being. And it is. But in practice, things are not so optimistic right now. Online platforms have still not adapted. I hope, however, that by spring, when this legislation becomes fully operational, this will change. But how is…

6

Feb

2024

SL Speech

Watch

Russiagate: allegations of Russian interference in the democratic processes of the European Union (debate)

Madam President! First of all, let me underline that we must take reporting on the espionage of one of the Members of the European Parliament extremely seriously. I hope that the investigation will clarify the matter and that concrete steps will follow. In any case, we cannot pretend that foreign countries are not interfering in our democratic processes. It is. And the methods for this are becomin…

17

Jan

2024

SL Speech

Watch

Rule of Law and media freedom in Greece (debate)

Madam President! Greece, the cradle of democracy, which today, unfortunately, presents itself in a completely different light. Media freedom is strongly influenced by deep-rooted systemic barriers stemming from the lack of media pluralism and the oligarchic ownership structure of media outlets dictating their editorial policy, not to mention the political and economic pressure on journalists and t…

13

Dec

2023

SL Speech

Watch

One year after Morocco and QatarGate – stocktaking of measures to strengthen transparency and accountability in the European institutions (debate)

Mr. President! It has been one year since some colleagues received suitcases of money from third countries to influence Union policy. The affair has seriously damaged the credibility of this Union. People have lost trust. Justified. In fact, I also wonder how much corruption is still undisclosed, especially after the last posts in Politico. What is the impact of illegal lobbying or partial interes…