What Bernard spoke about.

6 Jul

2022

FR Speech

The arrest of Cardinal Zen and the trustees of the 612 relief fund in Hong Kong

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Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, Kiev is not Hong Kong, Taiwan is not Ukraine, China is not Russia. As we all know, this is a matter of course. But beyond these differences of nation, geography, culture, let us see reality. The reality is that in both Beijing and Moscow we face regimes that want to destroy democracy, that want to ensure the triumph of dictatorship over freedom, that want to …

19 May

2022

FR Speech

The fight against impunity for war crimes in Ukraine (debate)

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Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, the outburst of barbarism we are witnessing today in Ukraine is unfortunately not new in the 21st century. Let us remember what happened in Aleppo. Let us remember what happened in the whole of Syria ruled by an ally of Mr Putin. It was the same, it was the same. And that is why today, when we lay the groundwork – because that is what we are doing …

4 May

2022

FR Speech

The case of Osman Kavala in Turkey

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Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, Mr Erdoğan believes himself to be strong. He believes that he is immune to our criticisms, protests and pressures, because he believes that the Russian aggression against Ukraine has made his country an ally, which neither the European Union nor the United States could or should in any case do without. He is not wrong, but what he does not see, on the other hand…

6 Apr

2022

FR Speech

Increasing repression in Russia, including the case of Alexey Navalny

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Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, I would like to quote a few sentences from a text that I believe was published two days ago by RIA Novosti, the most official body in the Kremlin. It reads: "Denazification is a set of measures against the Nazi mass of the Ukrainian population. It is necessary to carry out a total cleaning. In addition to high-ranking officials, a significant part of the popular…

6 Apr

2022

FR Speech

Conclusions of the European Council meeting of 24-25 March 2022: including the latest developments of the war against Ukraine and the EU sanctions against Russia and their implementation (debate)

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Madam President, Mr High Representative, ladies and gentlemen, ‘yes yes’, a Russian opposition journalist who is now a refugee in Berlin told me this weekend, from where he runs a very, very, very popular site in Russia. "Yes," he told me, "but what can I say to those of my compatriots who say to me: “But the Europeans, the Westerners are hostile to us, because they are taking these sanctions agai…

9 Mar

2022

FR Speech

Debate with the Prime Minister of Estonia, Kaja Kallas - The EU's role in a changing world and the security situation of Europe following the Russian aggression and invasion of Ukraine (debate)

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Madam President, Prime Minister, High Representative, he had believed that there would be no Ukrainian resistance and he was wrong. He believed that the 27 could not react and he was wrong. He believed that the Americans would not move and he was wrong. He had believed that the Russians would applaud him and he was wrong. This powerful strategist has made a mistake on everything and we have only o…

8 Mar

2022

FR Speech

The deterioration of the situation of refugees as a consequence of the Russian aggression against Ukraine (debate)

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Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, there are at least three categories of refugees in this tragedy. The first is obviously the Ukrainian refugees, and we owe it to them to finally organise – and this should already be done – the distribution among our 27 countries, because Poland, Romania tomorrow, cannot bear this burden alone. The second group of refugees are Russian refugees fleeing their c…

1 Mar

2022

FR Speech

Russian aggression against Ukraine (debate)

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Mr President, Mr Putin, you have lost. Oh, of course, you will still kill, destroy and sow grief and misfortune, but you have already lost, because empires are not rebuilt – believe a Frenchman – and do not return this absolutism of which you dream so much, believe a Frenchman always. You have lost, Mr Putin, because Ukraine is heroically and magnificently resisting, and will resist until its just…

16 Feb

2022

FR Speech

EU-Russia relations, European security and Russia’s military threat against Ukraine (debate)

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Mr President, Mr High Representative, ladies and gentlemen, let us see our successes. Do not do it to humiliate anyone and even less to get drunk, but do it to finally become aware of our strength. United as never before between European partners and between American and European allies, we have given Mr Putin pause for thought. He had to weigh the risks of sanctions, isolation and above all a one…

15 Feb

2022

FR Speech

Implementation of the common foreign and security policy – annual report 2021 - Implementation of the common security and defence policy – annual report 2021 (debate)

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Mr President, no, it is not that he has become humanistic and respectful of borders. None of us, of course, would have the naivety to believe that this is why Mr Putin had it said yesterday that some of his troops were returning to their barracks and that there was still room and time for diplomacy. But then, why did he put his foot on the brake? It was because he had made a big mistake: Instead o…

16 Dec

2021

FR Speech

Continuous crackdown on civil society and human rights defenders in Russia: the case of human rights organisation Memorial

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Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, this movement that Mr Putin wants to gag was the first ray of sunshine of perestroika. I will never forget Memorial’s first meetings with former Gulag detainees who met, looked at each other, started to cry, and said in a weak voice: “It’s you, it’s really you”. Yes, they were the survivors. So why does Mr Putin want to gag this movement, which was the very s…

14 Dec

2021

FR Speech

Situation at the Ukrainian border and in Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine (debate)

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Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, I will not go back to what so many of you have already said, well said and legitimately said about Russian military gesticulations on the border with Ukraine. Instead, I would like to draw your attention to the ongoing negotiations between the Atlantic Alliance and Russia. He is looking for a negotiation between the Alliance and Russia. So if this negotiation…

13 Dec

2021

FR Speech

The 30th anniversary of the dissolution of the Soviet Union and its importance for the future of Russia and Europe (debate)

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Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, it was an inevitable thing, it was a desirable thing, it was a normal thing: it was normal that at the end of the 20th century, the century of decolonisation, the century of the end of empires – whether Ottoman, Austro-Hungarian, French, British, Portuguese or others – it was normal, inevitable and desirable for the Russian Empire to come to an end. This 30th an…

19 Oct

2021

FR Speech

EU-Taiwan political relations and cooperation (debate)

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Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, sometimes even a dictator can tell the truth. When Xi Jinping says Taiwan is China, yes, he is right. Taiwan is China, and Taiwan and Communist China are destined to come together one day, as West and East Germany did, as the two Koreas hopefully will someday. But under what conditions? There is the optimal condition: Mainland China is becoming a g…

7 Oct

2021

FR Speech

Human rights situation in Myanmar, including the situation of religious and ethnic groups

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Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, the situation is unbearable. The facts are abhorrent. We know the facts and figures: more than 1,000 people killed, more than 8,000 people imprisoned and, above all, hundreds of thousands of displaced people and even more Burmese citizens now at risk of extreme poverty, if not worse. But from our hemicycle, there is something even more unbearable for the MEPs th…

5 Oct

2021

FR Speech

The future of EU-US relations (debate)

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Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, only a short time ago, under the previous term of office, the two words 'European defence' were taboos. Until very recently, the words "strategic autonomy" were simply unknown to this House. Today we adopt a report stating that ‘the European Union must pursue strategic autonomy in defence and economic relations’ and that ‘the Atlantic Alliance must become an all…

14 Sep

2021

FR Speech

Direction of EU-Russia political relations (debate)

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Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, why are we so proud of this report? Why do we have to thank Andrius Kubilius? For two reasons – and a third. The first is the firmness with which this report condemns the actions and misdeeds of the Putin regime, both outside the borders of the Russian Federation and within it. The second is the warmth with which this report reaches out the hand of friendship an…

6 Jul

2021

FR Speech

Situation in Tigray, Ethiopia (debate)

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Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, it is enough to open an atlas, look at a map of Africa to understand the extent of this tragedy on the borders of Sudan – torn Sudan, bloodied Sudan, crucified Sudan. The conflict in which Eritrea, Ethiopia and Tigray are now immersed is an absolutely dramatic extension of the conflicts from the Sahel to the Indian Ocean. Almost from coast to coast to coast, a z…