What Irena spoke about.

24 Nov

2022

SL Speech

The European Year of Youth 2022 Legacy (debate)

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Madam President! The European Year of Youth is coming to an end, or otherwise, if you wish, the European Year of Youth is not yet over. This means that it is somewhat difficult today to determine its final success, or to speak in sufficient detail or concretely about its legacy. Instead, of course, we can talk about concrete proposals to improve the living conditions of young people. There are a l…

22 Nov

2022

SL Speech

EU response to the increasing crackdown on protests in Iran (debate)

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Thank you. Iran is a country with a beautiful landscape. It could even be idyllic if it didn't have the government it has. If only we hadn't followed the constant repression of people, the denial of fundamental rights, the death penalty, arbitrary arrests with torture, the murder of protesters. But it is precisely this repression, precisely this tragic cruel fate of Mahsa Amini and many others, th…

19 Oct

2022

SL Speech

EU-Western Balkans relations in light of the new enlargement package (continuation of debate)

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Madam President. Imagine the following: They promise you something, but they lie. They promise you again, you wait, they lie to you again. You feel betrayed, confused. You're waiting. You become suspicious. You're waiting for more promises, but this time you don't expect much because you've already learned. A well-known band sings like this – I'll do it in the original: ‘Empty embraces su mosta co…

19 Oct

2022

SL Speech

Whitewashing of the anti-European extreme right in the EU (topical debate)

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Mr President. Human rights restrictions, attacks on journalists, brutal attacks on LGBTQI+, disregard for the rule of law, corruption. These are just some of the horrific acts from the Union that some of us have been vocally pointing out for years. They show a decline in democratic values, for which the radically right-wing populist option is responsible in our society, but our warnings repeatedly…

18 Oct

2022

SL Speech

UN Climate Change Conference 2022 in Sharm-el-Sheikh, Egypt (COP27) (debate)

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Mr President-in-Office! Running, cycling, sailing. 7,767 kilometers, 38 days and one message: We're running out of time. According to this motto, the climate relay is running today for the 19th day. It started in Glasgow, will end in Sharm el-Sheikh and will also cross my country – Slovenia. In order to cope with climate change, we need all the holders of the relay rod. World, European, national, …

18 Oct

2022

SL Speech

Continued internal border controls in the Schengen area in light of the recent ruling by the Court of Justice of the European Union (C-368/20) (debate)

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Mr President-in-Office! If ever, at the time of the worst Covid restrictions, we have really all been able to see which advantage of the European Union is among the most crucial. We have seen how it is when practically all state border controls are back again, in Slovenia we have even been imprisoned in municipalities. Now let's tell Bob Bob again: Intra-Schengen border controls – without legitima…

4 Oct

2022

SL Speech

Commission proposal for measures under the Rule of Law Conditionality Regulation in the case of Hungary (debate)

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Madam President, thank you very much. Under the rule of law mechanism, the Commission proposed to freeze the funds of Hungary. Finally, but we're not at the finish line yet. The first problem is that this concerns only part of the funds. The second problem is that from the current budget, the money is flowing smoothly to Hungary, despite corruption and the demolition of the rule of law. The third …

3 Oct

2022

SL Speech

One-minute speeches on matters of political importance

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Madam President. Colleagues and colleagues. The Member States of that Union are, as far as I know, on an equal footing. And – as far as I know – all our languages are also equal. And – as far as I know – we have a common market. And so I do not know why we should allow some multinationals that are in our markets not to take this into account. The rules that apply in our single market in the physic…

3 Oct

2022

SL Speech

European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control - Serious cross-border threats to health (debate)

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Greetings fellow Members, Commissioner. Health is the foundation of everything. Without health, there is no functioning economy, school systems, social protection, politics ... nothing. As long as we have it, we like to forget it in our daily lives. But two years ago, we all received a clear warning, which also showed how very vulnerable individual countries are in the fight against crises of this…

8 Mar

2022

SL Speech

The situation in Bosnia Herzegovina (continuation of debate)

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President-in-Office. We're in the twenty-first century. I know you know, but unfortunately you also know that autocrats and democrats who threaten peace and human freedoms still exist. In the twenty-first century, even here on European soil. Thirty years after the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Milorad Dodik is destroying the state and institutions. He denies genocide. As if what people had alread…

24 Nov

2021

SL Speech

Fundamental rights and the rule of law in Slovenia, in particular the delayed nomination of EPPO prosecutors (debate)

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Mr. President! If you criticize, attacks follow. If there is no subordination, destruction follows. If you're not with this government, you have to leave. If you are not theirs, be careful. Yes, I am talking about the current situation in Slovenia. In the case of Poland and Hungary, however, we have seen that such a deviation from democratic norms transcends national frameworks and becomes a probl…