What Isabel spoke about.

12

Sep

2023

PT Speech

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2022 Report on Türkiye (debate)

Mr President, may I begin by congratulating my colleague Nacho Sánchez Amor on this report and take this opportunity to address the Turkish authorities as rapporteur for the missing persons in Cyprus during the intercommunal clashes of 1963-64 and the Turkish invasion of 1974. I am witnessing the suffering of the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot families, almost half a century after the last even…

12

Sep

2023

PT Speech

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EU-Tunisia Agreement - aspects related to external migration policy (debate)

Mr President, Commissioner, Minister, after listening to the legitimate representatives of European citizens, we have only one conclusion: this agreement on migration policy with Tunisia must be stopped immediately. Over the past six years, the European Union has invested more than €6 billion in such agreements with neighbourhood countries. What is the result? 25,000 deaths, more than 25,000 death…

12

Jul

2023

PT Speech

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The political disqualifications in Venezuela

Madam President, only Venezuelans and Venezuelans, all Venezuelans and all Venezuelans, will have to decide the future of their country in elections that are fair, inclusive and transparent. This was the contribution that the European Union Election Observation Mission tried to make in 2021 through 23 recommendations, 23 key steps towards free and fair elections in 2024. I had a responsibility to …

12

Jul

2023

PT Speech

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The need for EU action on search and rescue in the Mediterranean (debate)

Madam President, in 2019 we were here in this plenary having an identical debate, an identical debate, also motivated by another tragedy in the Mediterranean. Since then, more than 10,000 lives have been lost. And the only question we have here, ladies and gentlemen, is: how long? How long will a group of rich, developed countries committed to the protection of human rights continue to turn a blin…

11

Jul

2023

PT Speech

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2022 Report on Albania (debate)

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, I am delighted to note the broad consensus in the debate on this report, a consensus which has been noted throughout the discussion and which has allowed the text to be as comprehensive as it is and to contemporaneise the most diverse solutions. As the Commissioner has rightly said, Albania has made serious reforms, very important reforms which …

11

Jul

2023

PT Speech

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2022 Report on Albania (debate)

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, allow me to address all of you and, in doing so, to address the Albanian people who, with courage and determination, have persevered on the European path. Last year, when we debated this annual report, we had before us a very different picture from what we have today, much darker, given the situation of injustice that caused the First Intergover…

14

Jun

2023

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Deterioration of fundamental freedoms in Hong Kong, notably the case of Jimmy Lai

Mr President, Xi Jinping's steamroller does not slow down in crushing all forms of freedom and human rights. Pro-democracy parties, journalists, activists, media outlets such as the Apple Daily and Stand News, civil society organisations, nothing and no one in Hong Kong is left unscathed by Beijing's repressive crackdown. The National Security Law has been a useful instrument in the hands of the r…

13

Jun

2023

PT Speech

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Situation in Lebanon (debate)

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, the endemic corruption, the political system based on the blocked division of power between religions, the bankruptcy of the banking system, the impunity installed have led Lebanon to the most complete chaos in recent years. Without a president and with a transitional government, when it is urgent to guarantee the intervention of the IMF and implem…

13

Jun

2023

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This is Europe - Debate with the President of Cyprus, Nikos Christodoulides (debate)

Madam President, talking about the future, a future of reunification and reconciliation also means looking to the past and healing the wounds of the past. I therefore come here to talk about the 2 000 Cypriots who disappeared in 1963, in the tragic clashes between communities, and in 1974, at the time of the Turkish invasion. After all this time, the whereabouts of 772 Greek Cypriots and 200 Turki…

12

Jun

2023

PT Speech

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European Union Drugs Agency (short presentation)

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, 30 years after the creation of the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction and 28 years after it came into operation, here we are marking a recognised success story and taking a final step towards the establishment of the European Union Drugs Agency. A step up to the challenges posed to us by increasingly complex market and consu…

10

May

2023

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Myanmar, notably the dissolution of democratic political parties

Madam President, in Myanmar, mass killings, arbitrary arrests, torture, sexual violence, severe restrictions on freedom of assembly and expression, executions in custody, now joins, more recently, also the dissolution of more than 40 political parties and the imminent call for puppet elections to legitimise an absolutely undemocratic and absolutely criminal regime. In the face of this, there is li…

10

May

2023

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Externalising asylum applications and making funding to third countries conditional on the implementation of return agreements (topical debate)

Madam President, the topic brought to our attention today is absolutely degrading and regrettable and is promoted by a far-right whose inflammatory and toxic rhetoric should embarrass us all. Migrants and refugees are not commodities. They're people. They are not a bargaining chip and our foreign policy and cooperation and development policy is not an exchange policy in this sense. Our values, the…

18

Apr

2023

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The need for European solidarity in saving lives in the Mediterranean, in particular in Italy (debate)

Mr President, the International Organisation for Migration reveals that the first quarter of this year was the deadliest in the Mediterranean since 2017. In three days, 3 000 people have recently disembarked off the coast of Italy. A migration crisis, as Meloni and Salvini and company want to make believe? No, no. The smooth entry and reception of millions of Ukrainian refugees on EU soil since 20…

18

Apr

2023

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Situation in Peru (debate)

Mr President, let us be serious: The crisis we are discussing today is nothing more than the tip of the iceberg of a tremendous crisis that has been installed in Peru for decades. It is a crisis that broke out in the face of the instability generated by the deposition of Castillo and the rise of Baluarte, but which has behind it the revolt of the people against endemic corruption, against inequali…

15

Mar

2023

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Cambodia: the case of opposition leader Kem Sokha

Mr President, the situation in Cambodia is deteriorating with each passing day. Activists are spied on and arrested, non-governmental organisations are criminalised, the media are shut down, trade unionists, activists and journalists are persecuted and arrested. Censorship spreads to social media, with citizens detained for the content of their publications and messages against the Hun Sen regime,…

15

Mar

2023

PT Speech

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The EU Guidelines on Human Rights Defenders (debate)

Madam President, five years have passed since the murder of Marielle Franco, a young Brazilian activist who defends the rights of minorities and the poorest. Around the world, human rights defenders face arbitrary arrests, torture, disinformation campaigns and it is estimated that more than 1700 people were killed between 2012 and 2022. The proliferation of authoritarian regimes and the fact that …

14

Mar

2023

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EU-Azerbaijan relations (debate)

Madam President, as the rapporteur Zovko has already mentioned, whom I welcome, since 2018 there has been no report on EU-Azerbaijan relations, but, under the authoritarian regime of the Aliyev family, little or nothing has changed in Azerbaijan. Talking about the rule of law remains a mirage in the face of a controlled and obedient judicial system. Human rights violations add up. The repression a…

14

Mar

2023

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This is Europe - Debate with the President of Lithuania, Gitanas Nausėda (debate)

Madam President, Mr Nausėda, allow me to begin by expressing my gratitude for the courageous and determined way in which Lithuania has defended European values against the autocratic regimes, not only of Putin and Lukashenko, but also, and it is good to say, of Xi Jinping. It really is an example for many other countries in the European Union. However, I have to say that I was in Lithuania exactly…

16

Feb

2023

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The further repressions against the people of Belarus, in particular the cases of Andrzej Poczobut and Ales Bialiatski (debate)

Mr President, Mrs Gregorová has just touched on the fundamental point of this whole debate. This is already the sixth resolution we have been discussing here since 2020. And what happens? Lukashenko continues to oppress his people and ally with Putin in the war in Ukraine. We continue to call for sanctions, more sanctions. And what does the Commission do? What does the Council do? We can no longer…

15

Feb

2023

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Violence against opposition activists in Equatorial Guinea, notably the case of Julio Obama Mefuman

Madam President, in Equatorial Guinea, attacks on fundamental freedoms victimise opponents and activists, who have been kidnapped, held captive, tortured and murdered at the hands of the dictatorial Obiang regime, which has been in power since 1979. Julio Obama Mefuman was arrested in 2019 and died in one of Equatorial Guinea's prisons. He was one of more than 500 political prisoners in this count…

15

Feb

2023

PT Speech

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The erosion of the rule of law in Greece: the wiretapping scandal and media freedom (topical debate)

Madam President, this debate does not allow us to be entangled in naivety or laxity. It is absolutely clear the authoritarian drift of Mitsotákis and his implication in the use of Predator against Nikos Androulakis and other political opponents, journalists and military ranks. The sharp fall of 38 positions suffered by Greece in the ranking Reporters Without Borders' press freedom is one of the re…

14

Feb

2023

PT Speech

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Response to the situation in Tunisia (debate)

Mr President, 12 years have passed since the end of the Jasmine Revolution. The strength of the people made Tunisia, in this period, synonymous with hope for all of us. However, from a year and a half ago to this part, the disillusionment is clear. President Saïed's political manoeuvres, arrogating full powers and sacking Parliament, put an end to the Tunisian dream. Popular dissatisfaction was cl…

14

Feb

2023

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Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence: EU accession (continuation of debate)

Madam President, I must begin by expressing my shock at some of the speeches made here today. There is no beauty in the violence, humiliation and suffering of anyone, in whatever form. We cannot normalize gender-based violence. We must criminalise it in the European Union and that will be our next step. But until then, we have the Istanbul Convention, which presents itself as a fundamental legal t…

13

Feb

2023

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EU response to the humanitarian situation following the earthquake in Türkiye and Syria (debate)

Madam President, I begin by expressing my condolences to the Turkish and Syrian peoples and my appreciation for the excellent work being done by all those who are currently providing humanitarian aid on the ground. In my country, we say that a disgrace never comes alone, and in the martyred north-west of Syria, this earthquake has come on top of the devastation generated by 12 years of a war that …

1

Feb

2023

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Situation in Afghanistan (debate)

Madam President, after the collapse of the withdrawal from Afghanistan, the only news that comes to us is absolutely disturbing news from that country. Last December, women's access to education was definitively barred. The exclusion of women from universities and the banning of young Afghans from school is a blatant violation of the right to education. The ban on women's participation in work has…