What Anna-Michelle spoke about.

13

Feb

2023

EN Speech

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REPowerEU chapters in recovery and resilience plans (debate)

Madam President, the evolution of the Recovery and Resilience Facility perfectly represents what some refer to today as the ‘age of permacrisis’. It was established to tackle problems caused by the pandemic. Now we’re retrofitting it in order to tackle the energy crisis. As we now face the next challenge in Europe, the challenge of competitiveness, some have suggested an EU Sovereignty Fund. But m…

1

Feb

2023

EL Speech

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One-minute speeches on matters of political importance

Mr President, the case of the 38 migrants who were found abandoned supposedly on Greek soil, as well as the alleged death of a little girl from a scorpion bite on an islet in Evros, were clearly proved to be feik nuisances and slanders against Greece. It was confirmed by a Syrian refugee. The NGO involved in the case publicly acknowledged its mistake and Der Spiegel magazine withdrew the relevant …

17

Jan

2023

EL Speech

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Implementation of the common foreign and security policy - annual report 2022 - Implementation of the common security and defence policy - annual report 2022 (debate)

Mr President, the 2022 Annual Report on the Union’s Common Foreign and Security Policy is a useful roadmap for achieving European strategic autonomy. Our report satisfies us with regard to its references to the Eastern Mediterranean, where unfortunately Greece has recently been forced to converse with an erratic neighbour, who is constantly on the path of revisionism, threats, challenges and disda…

14

Dec

2022

FR Speech

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Upscaling the 2021-2027 Multiannual Financial Framework (debate)

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, since the adoption of the multiannual financial framework, two events with major consequences, the pandemic and the totally unjustified Russian invasion of Ukraine, have radically changed our lives. At a time of ‘permacrise’, the Multiannual Financial Framework is not fit for purpose and does not ensure the green and digital transition as it sta…

14

Dec

2022

EL Speech

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The Commission’s reports on the situation of journalists and the implications of the rule of law (debate)

Madam President, Commissioner, press issues are also matters of the rule of law and as such we are dealing with them in my country, Greece. So stop slandering Greece, which from the very beginning welcomed the European Media Freedom Act, a landmark initiative for the European Union. This is why we are actively engaged in a fruitful dialogue, which will crystallise a single, fair framework that str…

13

Dec

2022

EL Speech

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Turkish airstrikes on northern Syria and the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (debate)

Mr President, Commissioner, the bombings in Syria, but also in the Kurdish region of Iraq, clearly demonstrate that Turkey's aggression is a European problem. Of course, it is we, Greeks and Greek women, who have to deal daily with the unstable and unpredictable behavior of a neighbor, who unfortunately is far from European values, but also systematically ignores the dictates of International Law.…

13

Dec

2022

EN Speech

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Prospects for the two-State solution for Israel and Palestine (debate)

Mr President, Madam Commissioner, this year has seen multiple clashes between Israelis and Palestinians. It’s actually been one of the deadliest years in recent memory, and too many innocent civilians, including young children, have paid the ultimate price. Terrorist attacks against Israel have led to the highest death count since 2008, and this is a sign, perhaps, that the Palestinian Authority i…

22

Nov

2022

EL Speech

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Situation in Libya (debate)

Madam President, against the background of the diplomatic incident last week, where the Foreign Minister of the Libyan caretaker government tried with her presence at the airport to force her Greek counterpart to meet with him, I welcome this report, which clearly states that the 2019 Turkish-Libyan Memorandum on the delimitation of maritime areas in the Mediterranean violates the sovereign rights…

21

Nov

2022

EL Speech

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One-minute speeches on matters of political importance

Madam President, will those who blamed Greece for the 92 migrants rescued by the Greek authorities in Evros apologise now that the media outlet that published the report withdrew it due to doubts? Will those who slandered the persecuted in the so-called Novartis scandal, who were fully acquitted now that even Mr. Tsipras' lawyer says they were all innocent from the beginning, apologise? They are t…

9

Nov

2022

EL Speech

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One-minute speeches on matters of political importance

Mr President, Greece in matters of the rule of law does not make discounts. The honour and reputation of the Greek citizens, but also of the democratically elected Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, is not negotiable and we will preserve it as the daughter of an eye. The Greek government does not use malware, has strengthened the legal framework for lifting secrecy, has institutionally and fully …

18

Oct

2022

EN Speech

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General budget of the European Union for the financial year 2023 - all sections (debate)

Mr President, Commissioner, Minister, between 2021 and 2024, the European Union will allocate over EUR 1 billion in funding to the Palestinian Authority. Fine, yet a proposal to condition just EUR 20 million of that funding is refused over and over by this House. I am referring, honourable colleagues, to the initiative which seeks to remove anti-Semitic references and incitement to violence propag…

17

Oct

2022

EN Speech

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FRONTEX's responsibility for fundamental rights violations at EU's external borders in light of the OLAF report (debate)

Mr President, I welcome this debate today in the interest of serving the truth, but as a Greek member of this House, I cannot allow this debate to fuel the campaign launched by Turkey, slandering Greece over migration in order to overshadow the fact that Turkey consciously and systematically weaponises migrants at the EU’s external borders. And I quote Turkish Foreign Minister Çavuşoğlu, ‘Under th…

5

Oct

2022

EN Speech

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Outcome of the Commission’s review of the 15-point action plan on trade and sustainable development (debate)

Thank you very much for the question. I think that our zero—tolerance policy for child labour trumps anything that has to do with trade, even though trade is about trade and investment and well—being, we have to have red lines. Child labour is a red line, and I think that’s why we’ve reflected it very well in our mutually acceptable across political families compromise with respect to trade and su…

5

Oct

2022

EN Speech

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Outcome of the Commission’s review of the 15-point action plan on trade and sustainable development (debate)

Mr President, I would say to Vice—President Schinas that trade deals are about delivering jobs and investment, but they’re also about setting rules and about promoting our values. The global race for a new era of rules and values is well underway. Recent years have seen our drive for free trade agreements stall, and political division over trade and sustainable development chapters have been one o…

5

Oct

2022

EL Speech

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Countering the anti-European and anti-Ukrainian propaganda of Putin’s European cronies (topical debate)

Mr President, Mr Vice-President, Mr Schinas, Minister. Putin's invasion did not come as a thunderbolt. Putin had been preparing for a long time, and propaganda was a big part of his preparation. We must admit that we have not dealt adequately with either Putin's propaganda or lies, which continue to this day and are extremely dangerous, among other things, because it opens the appetite and the way…

4

Oct

2022

EN Speech

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The death of Mahsa Amini and the repression of women's rights protesters in Iran (debate)

Mr President, the death of Mahsa Amini is shocking, but sadly it’s not surprising. It’s not surprising to the people of Iran whose basic human rights are routinely trampled on. And it’s not surprising to the United States, which is accused by Ayatollah Khamenei of instigating the protests. And it’s not surprising to Israel, which Iran wants to wipe off the face of the earth. It’s not surprising to…

3

Oct

2022

EN Speech

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One-minute speeches on matters of political importance

Madam President, recently, yet another instance of disinformation and slander of Greece’s handling of migrants at its borders was proven to be categorically false when NGO Human Rights 360, which represents 38 asylum seekers stranded on the islet in the River Evros, admitted that it had been misled about the facts. Thus, the assertions of the Greek Government and authorities were true all along – …

13

Sep

2022

EN Speech

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Renewed partnership with the Southern Neighbourhood – a new agenda for the Mediterranean (debate)

Madam President, Commissioner, as a member of this House from Greece, I am more aware than most of the importance that the entire southern neighbourhood has for the European Union. Today, however, I’d like to focus on one of its members, namely Israel – one of our closest and most like-minded partners, not just in the region but in the world. After ten years, the European Union is finally preparin…

12

Sep

2022

EL Speech

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One-minute speeches on matters of political importance

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, with Putin's war in Ukraine and his constant threats to shut down gas supplies to Europe due to the sanctions we have rightly imposed, we are facing a new major crisis. A difficult winter is just around the corner, for both households and businesses, and can have disastrous consequences. We must therefore react swiftly, with unity and effectiveness. Adopting – a…

12

Sep

2022

EN Speech

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Surveillance and predator spyware systems in Greece (debate)

Mr President, let’s go straight to the truth and I would ask kindly, Commissioner, that you rectify your statement. The Greek Government has stated very clearly that it does not use illegal spyware. The case of MEP Androulakis, is legal and I emphasise legal surveillance is being examined by the judiciary, by an investigative committee in Parliament and by the independent authorities in Greece. We…

5

Jul

2022

EN Speech

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The EU and the defence of multilateralism (debate)

Madam President, the recent ministerial conference of the WTO acts as a stark reminder of what exactly is at stake when we talk about the defence of multilateralism. So was MC12 actually a success? What was genuinely achieved? After 20 years, there was an agreement on fishing subsidies, a compromise on the TRIPS waiver, and the long-standing position of exempting e-commerce from tariffs was mainta…

4

Jul

2022

EL Speech

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One-minute speeches on matters of political importance

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, The new destruction of the Hagia Sophia Church in Istanbul is yet another proof of the utter disrespect shown by the Turkish authorities to a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the greatest symbols of Christianity. Unfortunately, however, it is not only the destruction of the marble floor, walls or the historic imperial gate of the temple, and all this aft…

22

Jun

2022

EN Speech

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One-minute speeches on matters of political importance

Madam President, anti—Semitism is fundamentally incompatible with Europe’s core values. The EU has adopted a zero tolerance strategy dealing with it and has vowed to put an end to it. There is nothing more dangerous to the future than the poisoning of our children’s mind, which is why the anti-Semitism strategy covers education. Then how can it be that the Commission refuses to condition funding t…

22

Jun

2022

EL Speech

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Implementation of the Recovery and Resilience Facility (debate)

Madam President, Commissioner, I am very pleased that as the European Union we have adopted and are implementing the Recovery and Resilience Facility, showing solidarity, unity and readiness in the post-pandemic economic recovery. I am proud that the Greek Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, pioneered the proposal of this mechanism and that Greece is one of the first countries to submit a compreh…

6

Jun

2022

EN Speech

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One-minute speeches on matters of political importance

Madam President, I stand before you today deeply insulted and frankly outraged by these slanderous allegations about lack of freedom of press in Greece. And I ask that instead of listening to these politically motivated accusations, which are fuelled by reports which claim that the press enjoys greater freedom in countries such as Burkina Faso and Chad, where there is military juntas, that you lis…