What Konstantinos spoke about.

16

Jun

2026

EL Speech

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An EU future for the Western Balkans (joint debate)

Madam President, enlargement means peace. We've proven that. Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, the government of the Left signed the Prespes agreement with North Macedonia. But integration is not only a geopolitical and economic choice, but also a commitment to the values of democracy and the rule of law. In Albania, thousands of people have been demonstrating for days on the occasion of the construc…

20

May

2026

EL Speech

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

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, we support this directive. It is a good directive and I think it is a positive start. The real test, in my opinion, is its application, and I will tell you why. In my country we have seen the exact opposite of what we are discussing today. Sunday Griva, a victim of femicide outside a police station, went to ask for help and police officers said …

20

May

2026

EL Speech

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The need to reduce work-related fatalities (debate)

Mr President, Commissioner, it is not an unfortunate loss of life at work. It is murder and Member States consent to lawlessness. Not unlucky were the five workers at Violanta company in Trikala. The government did not carry out the necessary checks. In the European Union in 2023, there were 3 298 deaths of female workers. In Greece in 2025 we had 201 dead workers, while since the beginning of the…

19

May

2026

EL Speech

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Commemoration of the genocide of Armenians and Greeks in Pontos and Asia Minor (debate)

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, 19 May today. We live days of unbridled revisionism and Ankara is a key contributor to data and history. He is essentially a negative protagonist. We are currently talking here, and in Cyprus, in a Member State, there is an occupying army. As we speak, the Ankara regime is raising the issue of dangerous revisionism with the pseudo-narrative of the so-called blue…

30

Apr

2026

EL Speech

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How to secure a sustainable future for the EU livestock sector in light of the need to ensure food security, farmers’ resilience and the challenges posed by animal diseases? (debate)

Mr President, Commissioner, we live in a contradictory environment, in principle. On the one hand, the livestock sector is being tested and threatened with zoonoses, as is the case in my home country, and especially in Lesvos, where production is threatened to disappear, one of the largest islands in the Mediterranean. And I want to note here that, on the other hand, the government has left people…

28

Apr

2026

EL Speech

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The Commission’s 2025 Rule of Law report (debate)

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, first of all, thank you very much for this debate. Rule of law issues are fundamental and elementary. There can be no petty political games, no selfishness, no intransigence. I would like to say to the Bureau, because we have heard words which, I think, are contrary to Rule 10 of Parliament's Rules of Procedure. This cannot be allowed to happen all the time. …

28

Apr

2026

EL Speech

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The Commission’s 2025 Rule of Law report (debate)

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, first of all I would like to personally thank all of you, all of you, all of your colleagues and heads who helped to have a report, all of the shadow rapporteurs and all of the staff, colleagues and offices who participated in the process with proposals and amendments, the relevant collaborators of the political groups, the LIBE secretariat and its…

28

Apr

2026

EL Speech

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World Day for Safety and Health at Work (debate)

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, on the occasion of this day, I think we should say that we need to protect ourselves, to protect the value of human life. I would say that we should also set up an observatory, essentially the European Parliament, because the Member States do not seem to be in compliance with European directives. To address the social risks, which according to the ILO, are re…

12

Mar

2026

EL Speech

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Rail transport safety in the EU – lessons learnt from the Adamuz accident and three years after the Tempi tragedy (debate)

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, yesterday we had a debate on the problematic, non-existent rule of law in Greece and the tactics of cover-up that continue with the issue of Predator. Today we bring back the issue of the cover-up of the Tempi crime. The Greek state, using various tactics, obstructs the request of relatives for the exhumation of the victims, in order t…

11

Mar

2026

EL Speech

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Situation of the rule of law in Greece, following the Court decision on Predator spyware (debate)

10

Mar

2026

EL Speech

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European Semester for economic policy coordination 2026 - European Semester for economic policy coordination: employment and social priorities for 2026 (joint debate)

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, the Annual Report on the European Semester reminds us that the Union's economic governance cannot be measured only by indicators of competitiveness and budgetary discipline, but also by its capacity to strengthen social cohesion and improve citizens' lives. That is the key issue. Of course, we have new facts following the adventurisms of Mr Trump in the Middl…

11

Feb

2026

EL Speech

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Rule of law, fundamental rights and misuse of EU funds in Slovakia: the need for an EU response (debate)

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, the criminal populism experienced by many citizens in our Member States in recent years is sliding and sliding us with mathematical certainty into authoritarianism. It seems that Mr. Fico can make Mr. Mitsotakis jealous. In Athens, the government spokesman threatened a press reporter, Mr Avramidis, who dared to ask in the press room. But regardl…

10

Feb

2026

EL Speech

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Extreme weather events in particular in Portugal, southern Italy, Malta and Greece: European response in strengthening readiness, preparedness and solidarity mechanisms (debate)

22

Jan

2026

EL Speech

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A new action plan to implement the European Pillar of Social Rights (debate)

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, good morning to everyone. When we hear too much pseudo-patriotism and fear, it is good for workers and workers to worry. Brecht has said it too. In our view, the security of Europe is social cohesion. This is the security pillar. When social inequalities are widening, can we really talk about a resilient Europe? The new European Pillar of Social Rights Action…

21

Jan

2026

EL Speech

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Attempted takeover of Lithuania’s public broadcaster and the threat to democracy in Lithuania (debate)

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, according to the EU acquis, the editorial and functional independence of public information bodies, their good administration and, of course, transparency in appointments and dismissals, protection against political or business interference, as well as adequate, stable and predictable funding, are self-evident. As a former journalist, for years in Greece, ser…

21

Jan

2026

EL Speech

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Restoring control of migration: returns, visa policy and third-country cooperation (topical debate)

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, with so many crises and tensions facing Europe at the moment, when we see clearly imperialist, expansionist policies unfolding, we are one step away from total destruction. They're tearing us apart. That is, to be clear, President Trump is now talking about abolishing the UN and creating a peculiarly closed peace club willing to pay for it. And the Union leaders…

20

Jan

2026

EL Speech

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Presentation of the programme of activities of the Cyprus Presidency (continuation of debate)

Madam President, Mr President, Cyprus has experience, it has know-how, it has a democratic tradition and this has been clearly demonstrated by the previous successful presidency of the late Dimitris Christofias. Cyprus, the only Member State of our Union with an occupying army, takes over the presidency at a difficult juncture for the Union, with the revisionist dangerous policy of the United Stat…

18

Dec

2025

EL Speech

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European Democracy Shield – very large online platform algorithms, foreign interference and the spread of disinformation (debate)

17

Dec

2025

EL Speech

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The urgent need to combat discrimination in the EU through the horizontal anti-discrimination directive (topical debate)

Mr President, what have we heard from the far right today? I mean, it's really unhistorical, but I'll stay on the subject. I really wonder why we have to deal with arms issues, issues of international trade agreements. The whole side here, hand in hand with Mrs von der Leyen, is always asking for urgent procedures. But when it comes to issues of discrimination, we have been freezing this very seri…

15

Dec

2025

EL Speech

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Amending certain CAP Regulations as regards the conditionality system, types of intervention in the form of direct payment, types of intervention in certain sectors and rural development and annual performance reports, data and interoperability governance, suspensions of payments annual performance clearance and controls and penalties (debate)

Madam President, therefore, with all that we have heard, we cannot deny that we will be against simplification. We have no reason not to support it, even with reservations. But the main problem – the main problem – is the Common Agricultural Policy and the philosophy of this Community agricultural policy. It is the Commission's trade policy that, unilaterally and in a coup d'état, Mrs von der Leye…

26

Nov

2025

EL Speech

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EU strategy for the rights of persons with disabilities post-2024 (debate)

25

Nov

2025

EL Speech

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Communication on the Democracy Shield (debate)

Mr President, Commissioner, as I mentioned when you presented your proposal, we are not entirely satisfied with it. I'd call it half an effort. There are positive things, though, and I have to be honest. I consider the creation of a European centre for democratic resilience to be a positive element. The protection of journalists and the media is a positive element. Educating citizens in the recogn…

24

Nov

2025

EL Speech

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Existence of a clear risk of a serious breach by Hungary of the values on which the Union is founded (debate)

22

Oct

2025

EL Speech

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Allegations of espionage by the Hungarian government within the EU institutions (debate)

Commissioner, Madam President, following the recent very serious allegations, firstly, about the action of agents in the permanent Hungarian delegation, when the current Hungarian Commissioner was at the head, and secondly, about the attempt to trap the German Green colleague, Mr Freund, I am very afraid that we will have to investigate with the European Shield that we have set up to secure the ex…

22

Oct

2025

EL Speech

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The ongoing assault on the democratic institutions and the rule of law in Bulgaria (topical debate)

Madam President, Commissioner, sometimes, when I hear fellow interlocutors, it is as if they are supporting their parties, and not the issue of the rule of law. In recent months, therefore, we have witnessed a continuous deterioration in the main pillars of the rule of law in Bulgaria. Bulgaria's Attorney General herself openly speaks of attacks against judges handling cases of high public interes…