What Assita spoke about.

15 Sep

2026

NL Speech

The recent hybrid attacks and instrumentalisation of migrants in Ceuta and the need for a coordinated response to protect EU’s external borders (debate)

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Mr President, we are at the start of a new political year. A crucial year in which the credibility of politics in general and the EU in particular is at stake more than ever. Citizens are right to ask themselves what the EU really stands for and to what extent we are solving the problems of which they are really awake. The electorate expects us politicians to finally tackle effectively the problem…

7 Jul

2026

EN Speech

Presentation of the programme of activities of the Irish Presidency (debate)

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Madam President, in all what you said, presidency, I haven't heard much about antisemitism, yet a big issue in Europe. As you know, we still need to protect Jewish schools and institutions in many European cities, and that is a fact. You speak of the importance of our European way of life and I totally welcome that. I must say what it means today, though. You need to give faith to European people …

15 Jun

2026

NL Speech

Simplification of the implementation of harmonised rules on artificial intelligence (Digital Omnibus on AI) (debate)

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20 May

2026

EN Question

Recruitment of children by organised crime (debate)

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Dear colleague, I really appreciate all your work on behalf of many people for human rights. That's why I would like to ask you this question, based on the situation in Brussels, which is also known in Sweden and other European countries. A lot of young people who are underage are actually staying illegally in Europe, and they are used by organised crime to sell drugs or to perpetrate other kinds …

20 May

2026

EN Speech

Rights, support and protection of victims of crime (debate)

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Madam President, Commissioner, dear colleagues, I would like to ask you this: imagine a young girl, sitting somewhere, defenceless, full of life and joy. But someone decides at that very moment that you are their prey. They impose themselves on you because they can. And because they know that they can get away with it. Too many people got away with it already. In this situation, only the law can m…

19 May

2026

EN Speech

EU cybersecurity and preparedness in view of advanced AI systems (debate)

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Madam President, dear colleagues, Madam Commissioner, the Mythos affair showed what we already knew: that sadly, the EU lives in the stone age of AI. Very embarrassing. Our mindset is that of bureaucracy and of isolationism that we confuse with sovereignty. We fail to invest in energy innovation. We struggle to reduce bureaucracy. There is no vision. We act as if advanced AI is the enemy, but it i…

29 Apr

2026

EN Speech

The need to combat antisemitism and protect Jewish life in Europe, following the recent attacks against the Jewish community in the Netherlands and Belgium (debate)

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Madam President, colleagues, this Monday, a man was attacked by three other men in the Brussels metro and his Star of David was ripped off. They did not steal anything from him; they wanted to take his dignity and his right to exist away. Let's be honest, we all know deep down why in Europe we need to protect Jewish schools, neighbourhoods and institutions. Some of us have the courage to say it ou…

28 Apr

2026

EN Speech

Situation of fundamental rights in the European Union in 2024 and 2025 (debate)

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Mr President, dear Commissioner, I would like to say first that all human beings indeed should have the same rights – not only in speeches, not only in history books, not only in declarations that we make, but in the reality that we shape. I would like to tell you that, today, in the European Union, there are still many women and girls who are captive in a marriage that they cannot leave without f…

27 Apr

2026

EN Speech

Importance of consent-based rape legislation in the EU (debate)

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Madam President, Commissioner, we all here agree that women need to be protected against rape. Only, my feeling, my impression is that we fight rape a lot in our imagination – by speaking to each other like we are doing today. And it's very frustrating because, in reality, women are still suffering. There has been little progress since we negotiated the law last term against violence against women…

26 Mar

2026

EN Speech

Global Gateway – past impacts and future orientation (debate)

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Madam President, dear colleagues, dear Commissioner, I think it's pointless to waste time listing all the arguments that underscore the necessity of the Global Gateway initiative. Recent geopolitical developments are perhaps the strongest argument of all. If we in Europe wish to put ourselves back on the world map, strategically well‑considered investments in infrastructure, technology and energy …

12 Feb

2026

NL Speech

Recommendation to the Council on EU priorities for the 70th session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (debate)

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10 Feb

2026

NL Speech

Spain’s large-scale regularisation policy and its impact on the Schengen Area and EU migration policy (debate)

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10 Feb

2026

EN Speech

Situation in Northeast Syria, the violence against civilians and the need to maintain a sustainable ceasefire (debate)

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Mr President, dear colleagues, Commissioner, once again, the Kurds in Syria are being sacrificed on the altar of cynical geopolitics. Their communities that heroically defeated ISIS are being displaced, shelled and coerced into perilous negotiations in Damascus by a regime backed by extremist militia, freed ISIS fighters and groups supported by our own NATO ally, Türkiye. These are the same Kurds …

17 Dec

2025

EN Speech

Preparation of the European Council meeting of 18-19 December 2025, in particular the need to support Ukraine, transatlantic relations and the EU’s strategic autonomy (debate)

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Madam President, dear colleagues, the only Russian assets existing in Belgium are sitting in Euroclear, not in the office of the Prime Minister. Belgium has been and remains a steadfast supporter of Ukraine. I deeply regret that last week, Belgium was singled out for raising legitimate legal and financial concerns about the EU plan to use frozen Russian Central Bank assets parked at Euroclear to s…

25 Nov

2025

EN Speech

Escalation of the war and the humanitarian catastrophe in Sudan (debate)

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Mr President, Madam Commissioner, dear colleagues, we are here today because Sudan is bleeding. Just four weeks ago, the Rapid Support Forces attacked a women's hospital, resulting in hundreds of deaths. They stormed a fragile health care facility: the last hope for so many women who had no access to anything else. We must think of them today, which is a day against violence against all women. The…

25 Nov

2025

EN Speech

International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women (debate)

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Madam President, can any woman or girl today walking the streets of Europe tonight feel that she is safe? No. We cross the road when it gets dark. We clutch our keys like they're our weapons. We ask our daughters to text us when they get home, because it can happen to any of us – the President shared the data – on a quiet suburban road in France, in a flat in Rome, behind closed doors in Madrid or…

24 Nov

2025

EN Speech

Enhancing police cooperation in relation to the prevention, detection and investigation of migrant smuggling and trafficking in human beings; enhancing Europol’s support to preventing and combating such crimes (debate)

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Madam President, dear colleagues, so many women have been sexually abused and abandoned in the hands of criminals for too long. This regulation is not just another file. It is a weapon to smash the criminal empires that traffic in human lives and destroy women. It forges unbreakable cooperation between Member States, Europol and now national police forces, so that together we can hunt down and des…

12 Nov

2025

EN Speech

The first European Annual Asylum and Migration report and the setting up of the Annual Solidarity Pool (debate)

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Madam President, dear Commissioner, dear Minister, migration policy is not just a policy file. It is the heartbeat of our continent's future, touching lives, economies and security across borders. Thank you for your report. I welcome this report and its clarity on the annual solidarity pool. Yet, to progress demands balance. Regarding return policy, for example, in 80 % of the cases we fail. It le…

12 Nov

2025

EN Speech

Commemorating the 10th anniversary of the islamist attacks of 13 November 2015 in Paris (debate)

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Madam President, on 28 October, the Rapid Support Forces attacked a women's hospital in Sudan. The el‑Fasher maternity clinic was the only partially functioning healthcare facility in the region. That last hope was wiped out. It became a slaughterhouse. At least 460 patients and their companions, including pregnant women, newborns and family members, died in the RSF's attacks. Doctors, a nurse and…

21 Oct

2025

EN Speech

Changing security landscape and the role of police at the heart of the EU’s internal security strategy (debate)

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Mr President, dear colleagues, dear Commissioner, in every European country you will hear horrifying stories about how police officers have been treated. You will hear their frustration about how their work and the effort and intention they put into it is less and less likely to lead to convictions and change in society. Motivation drops, and it starts making less sense for young people to commit …

20 Oct

2025

EN Speech

Order of business

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Madam President, as a staunch defender of democratic principles and the rule of law, I am profoundly appalled by the incarceration of former French President Nicolas Sarkozy. This decision strikes at the heart of our shared European values, transforming a man who boldly led France through economic turmoil and global crisis into a symbol of judicial overreach. Sarkozy's conviction, rooted in allega…

10 Sep

2025

EN Speech

State of the Union (debate)

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Madam President, President von der Leyen, the truth is that the left killed the drug report before your plane even took off and then blamed you for standing by the corpse. The public remains anxious all over Europe and angry, we see it today here in France. People worry about transparency, security and respect for the European values, a more powerful voice at the international stage, protection fo…

8 Jul

2025

NL Speech

Temporary derogation from certain provisions of Regulations (EU) 2017/2226 and (EU) 2016/399 (A10-0082/2025 - Assita Kanko) (vote)

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Why do we need the Entry/Exit System (EES)? We need EES in order to be able to carry out passport checks on third-country nationals more accurately and efficiently. We need EES to be able to see at any time which third-country nationals are in the EU and whether they are still complying with the time limits of their stay. We need EES because it is the cornerstone of the European border architectur…

17 Jun

2025

NL Speech

Combating the sexual abuse and sexual exploitation of children and child sexual abuse material and replacing Council Framework Decision 2004/68/JHA (recast) (debate)

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Mr President, today we are taking an important step in the fight against one of the most heinous forms of crime: the sexual abuse of children. Every day we hesitate, children continue to suffer. This directive is not about paper compromises or political colours. She is about our children, about their voices, about the fact that abuse today is happening not only behind closed doors, but in the pixe…

16 Jun

2025

EN Speech

Signature of acts adopted in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure (Rule 81)

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Madam President, Brussels – the capital of Europe – has been without a government for over a year now. In the meantime, gunfire echoes through the streets, the drug trade is thriving openly and the debt is piling up into a financial disaster. And yet they dare to send a pitiful letter to the EU: 'give us money', they say. Isn't that embarrassing and outrageous? You don't solve problems with beggin…