What Karen spoke about.

4 Oct

2023

EN Question

Need for a speedy adoption of the asylum and migration package (debate)

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... the efforts of the Danish Government in Rwanda. The efforts of the Danish Government are pies in the sky, castles in the sky. They are not actually coming to anything. Rwanda does not respect human rights. How can you propose that we want to send refugees, asylum seekers to Rwanda and your claims that they are illegal, that they are undocumented refugees, that they do not have rights to seek s…

3 Oct

2023

DA Speech

Situation in Nagorno-Karabakh after Azerbaijan’s attack and the continuing threats against Armenia (debate)

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Madam President! Thank you, Madam President, thank you, Commissioner, to the Secretary of State for European Affairs. In 1902, the Danish teacher Karen Jeppe travelled to Armenia to help the displaced Armenians. It was in the run-up to the Armenian Genocide of 1915. At that time, the international community failed Armenia. Azerbaijan has exceeded what should be Europe's red lines in Nagorno-Karaba…

2 Oct

2023

DA Speech

One-minute speeches on matters of political importance

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Madam President! The fish in the Danish waters gasp for the weather and die while we watch these days, and our sailing children do not actually dare to fall into the water because of toxic algae that suffocate the marine environment. Danish seas, fjords and streams have been hit by the worst oxygen depletion since 2002. Despite glazed facts for decades, Danish politicians have not wanted to demand…

2 Oct

2023

DA Speech

Ensuring European transportation works for women (debate)

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Madam President! This report highlights the need to remember the whole of society when we think about transport. In 1946 Simone de Beauvoir’s ‘The Other Gender’ was published. In 2019 Caroline Criado Perez “Invisible women”. Both are about how society thinks men first and most often completely forgets women. It is quite explicit in the transport sector, where it was only in these weeks with 55 yea…

13 Sep

2023

DA Speech

Regulation of prostitution in the EU: its cross-border implications and impact on gender equality and women’s rights (debate)

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Mr President! Ladies and gentlemen, the negotiations have been so unnecessarily difficult that I am left with the idea that a balanced report might not have been desired at all. In this report, we should have focused on and listened to those who have voluntarily chosen this work, because it is clear that we must say no to organised crime, trafficking and the exploitation of people in need or under…

12 Sep

2023

DA Speech

Combating the normalisation of far-right and far-left discourses including antisemitism (debate)

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Madam President! Commissioner. For me, fundamental rights and our democracy are not about the right and the left. It is about respect for people. The far right is oppressing LGBTI people, minorities, migrants and women to win votes. For almost a hundred years, we have seen the far right using minorities as a target to gain power and undermine our democracy. We say so often that it must never be re…

12 Sep

2023

EN Speech

Relations with Belarus (debate)

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Madam President, this is an important resolution for Belarus. We need to show that we stand truly with Belarus and the democratic opposition’s fight for freedom for all of the population of Belarus, for its political prisoners, for its opposition in exile. We need to show not only in words and in sanctions on letters, but actually proving that we stand with the population of Belarus. We need to st…

13 Jul

2023

FR Question

Global Convergence on Generative AI (debate)

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Thank you for accepting this blue card. Artificial intelligence has already trained on works of art. How do you think you can compensate artists whose works have been used to train artificial intelligence, even before it is put on the market?…

13 Jul

2023

EN Speech

Global Convergence on Generative AI (debate)

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Mr President, I thank the Commissioner for being here. I think we could have had more Commissioners, as regulating AI encompasses many areas and lots of the portfolios of your colleagues. Last year, the use of generative AI spread like wildfire. When we started the work on the AI Act, we couldn’t have imagined such an exponential rise in the use of generative AI. By the commendable efforts of my c…

11 Jul

2023

EN Speech

2022 Report on Bosnia and Herzegovina (debate)

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Madam President, Commissioner, today we commemorate 28 years since the Srebrenica genocide. This was a genocide that marked a European history and our conscience because we had a responsibility that we failed to live up to, to protect the population that had sought refuge in Srebrenica. It also marks all of our European populations because in each of our countries we have families that sought refu…

11 Jul

2023

EN Speech

Question Time (Commission) – EU-Africa Strategy

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Thank you Commissioner for your focus on human rights and democracy in Tunisia. Will the Commission and the EEAS then take up the tripartite meetings that used to be held between the Tunisian Government, Tunisian Civil Society and the EEAS? At the moment, human rights defenders and civil society have been arrested following meetings with EU Member State embassies and holding meetings with civil so…

11 Jul

2023

EN Speech

Question Time (Commission) – EU-Africa Strategy

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Thank you, Commissioner and Vice-President. Looking at the EU Africa Strategy, I wish to focus on a specific country, Tunisia, which I find is symptomatic for our approach to Africa as a whole. We need strategic and equal partnerships with the countries in Africa. And so that is not just focused on migration, but, as your portfolio says, to promote democracy, rule of law, human rights and good gov…

14 Jun

2023

DA Speech

Surrogacy in the EU - risks of exploitation and commercialisation (topical debate)

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Madam President! To found a family and to bear one's own child are two of the things that are most fundamental to us as human beings, as well as to carry on generations and create a future on this earth for children in one's family. What surrogate mothers do is they help people and families to complete this dream. Let women decide their own bodies. We must let women make a choice for themselves wh…

13 Jun

2023

DA Speech

Question Time (VPC/HR) - Relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan and the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh and at the Lachin Corridor

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–Mr President! Thank you very much for your reply. I know that we cannot ask for miracles, but at least we cannot have the most fundamental part of international law respected. Access between their prisoners of war and their families? There are 33 Armenian prisoners of war detained in Azerbaijan. They only have very sporadic telephone contact with their families and they have not yet been sent bac…

13 Jun

2023

DA Speech

Question Time (VPC/HR) - Relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan and the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh and at the Lachin Corridor

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Mr President! Armenia and Azerbaijan. They have a peace agreement that covers Nagorno-Karabakh. There is no longer a real conflict. There is an agreement reached by both Armenia and Azerbaijan, of which the Lachin corridor is an essential part. The problem is, there's just no access through the Lachin corridor. The Lachin corridor is part of this peace agreement, which requires access to the Nagor…

13 Jun

2023

EN Speech

Artificial Intelligence Act (debate)

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Mr President, dear colleagues, kære Margrethe, we made it: over a year of negotiations, the AI Act has finally reached plenary. The outcome is a careful balance. It is a text that promotes innovation, that protects fundamental rights and fosters trustworthy AI. And these three aims were key to our work in the Legal Affairs Committee. We voted to guarantee that open source developers who are drivin…

12 Jun

2023

DA Speech

One-minute speeches on matters of political importance

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Madam President and Vice-President. In a year's time, we will be asking European citizens to vote in the European elections. Your voice makes a difference, we say. Men hvis du stemmer på nogen, der stifter familie, så har din stemme mindre værdi, fordi den forælder, som vil tilbringe tid med deres barn i de første dage af deres liv, deres stemme bliver ikke talt. They cannot be replaced by a polit…

9 May

2023

DA Speech

Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence – EU accession: institutions and public administration of the Union - Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence - EU accession: judicial cooperation in criminal matters, asylum and non-refoulement (debate)

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Madam President! No, no, no. No, don't touch me there. No, I don't want that. No, it's a full sentence. It is important that we teach our children that they are allowed to say no if there are others who want to touch them or do things to them that they do not like. We teach our children that they have the right to decide who they are, what they are and what will happen to them. Yeah, I'd like that…

19 Apr

2023

EN Speech

Universal decriminalization of homosexuality, in light of recent developments in Uganda (debate)

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Mr President, universal human rights and our democracy are based on us being equal, based on non-discrimination. So when you talk about LGBTI rights, trans rights and transgender rights as being part of a culture war and a wokeism, you are actually fighting against the basis of our democracy. In 2011, David Kato was murdered in his own home. Last year we received Frank Mugisha, who is a lifelong L…

29 Mar

2023

EN Speech

The Rights of children in Rainbow Families and same sex parents in particular in Italy (debate)

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Mr President, and thank you very much, Commissioner, for being here. This is a debate around fundamental rights: the rights of children in our Union, if they have the same rights as other children. This is not a question of how they were conceived. This is a question of how their parents have the right to love and protect them, no matter how their family situation is, no matter in which Member Sta…

29 Mar

2023

EN Speech

The Rights of children in Rainbow Families and same sex parents in particular in Italy (debate)

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Thank you for accepting the blue card. You said that this is a national issue. Are fundamental rights not a European issue? The rights of children in the UN Treaty – is this not a universal issue? So how do you claim that this is not something that we should discuss in the European Parliament, where we want to ensure the fundamental rights of all European citizens? We are talking about the rights …

16 Mar

2023

DA Speech

European Citizens’ Initiative "Save bees and farmers! Towards a bee-friendly agriculture for a healthy environment" (debate)

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Mr President! Many thanks to the citizens who have signed up in more than 11 countries in Europe. We need to talk about what is happening in our nature and what is happening to our insects. Because the bees in our nature are under pressure, swarms of bees die, and we don't know why, but because we don't know exactly why, that doesn't mean we shouldn't act. We need to look at reducing the use of pe…

15 Mar

2023

EN Speech

Women activism – human rights defenders related to sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) (debate)

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Madam President, today, we have a debate about human rights defenders because this is what we're talking about: we're talking about men and women campaigning for human rights. Abortions are part of health care. Abortions happen. You can only ban safe abortions. We had a discussion earlier about Isabella, who died because she was denied the health care that she needed. This is happening in Poland. …

15 Mar

2023

EN Speech

Women activism – human rights defenders related to sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) (debate)

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I think your intervention, dear colleague, is a clear example of the pushback against the fundamental ... Votre intervention est un exemple clair de la campagne contre les droits fondamentaux. Oui, nous sommes des femmes. Toutes les femmes sont diverses, comme les femmes trans. Et donc, il n'y a pas seulement la définition des femmes de J.K. Rowling. Au Danemark, il y a un événement dans une bibli…

15 Mar

2023

EN Speech

Deaths at sea: a common EU response to save lives and action to ensure safe and legal pathways (debate)

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Mr President, in the recent shipwreck, the Italian authorities refused to help and the responsible Libyan authorities did not help, despite having received both patrol boats and millions of euros from the European community. This is why we need to revoke the Libyan search and rescue area and we need to have EU state-led search and rescue. We cannot delegate the responsibility of refugees at the EU…