Speeches

Madam President, Commissioner, the situation in Slovakia comes down to the negative trend for the rule of law in Hungary, Poland, Bulgaria, Greece. This worries us deeply. There's one word I think we'll agree on: corruption. Corruption threatens democracy. The recent constitutional revision of the Slovak Government clearly threatens equality, the integrity of the administration of justice, while undermining the legal protection of the financial interests of our Union against criminal acts. These reforms directly challenge the rule of law, democracy and the protection of fundamental human rights in Slovakia. They limit the application of the European acquis and international treaties, affecting private and family life. I am particularly concerned about the impact on children, women, journalists, the LGBTIQ community, whose rights are threatened under the guise of protecting national identity, an old rotten ideological product. Commissioner, I agree with the conditionality tool. I have to tell you that the Left will be by your side as long as you don't back down.

Madam President, Commissioner, protecting European democracy from outside interference and information manipulation is necessary, undeniable and urgent. At the meetings of our special committee we have heard the Right with all its manifestations trying to turn the conversation elsewhere. There's an issue. But it is not a one-sided matter. There's an issue with Russia, that's clear. But is Russia the only one causing problems in the European Union? So, about the Musk interventions, about the interventions of the United States of America in the elections in Germany, did we not hear anything? As far as our perception is concerned, Europe is our home and we protect it from everyone. That is, there are no good invaders and no bad invaders. There are malicious intruders, and here we protect rights. And one last thing, Commissioner, because as I have heard from colleagues, the rule of law is also your responsibility, it is a top issue for democracy. The answers we receive from your office to these rule of law questions, unfortunately, are vague and unclear. This saddens me, and I close in an absolute and non-negotiable way for democracy, we say that the shield of protection goes exclusively through democracy.

Madam President, Commissioner, the strategic orientation of the common agricultural policy is very important for our farmers, for all citizens. For the distribution of European funds, I would not suggest that Mr Weber and you, Commissioner, request Mr Mitsotakis' conscientious software from Greece. The CAP is our main financing tool for food production. But for us, the Greeks, the European citizens of the South, it is a decisive factor in addressing the demographic problem. What common agricultural policy do we want? The distinct CAP budget line must be kept separate to prevent any reduction in the budget. There is a need to redirect Union resources and policies that are linked to production and encourage it without deducting resources for armaments expenditure. Particular attention shall be paid to the enhancement of mountainous, less-favoured, island areas and quality products. Strengthen traditional farming methods, environmentally friendly, as well as coastal fishing. We are of course against the Mercosur agreement and, of course, this unacceptable coup d'état by Mrs von der Leyen, which did not get the approval of the European Parliament. We have proposed to you the creation of a fund to adapt agriculture to the climate crisis with resources outside the CAP. These are the proposals of the left.

Madam President, thank you very much for the cooperation, for this very nice work and I will come to the matter. Today we are discussing the report on the accession course of North Macedonia, which in itself is welcome good news, as the previous report never reached the plenary. The accession of the neighbour to the Union goes exclusively, I note, through the Prespa Agreement. It is an international agreement, without asterisks, language games and adventurous gnaws of the international agreement. The integration of all those who wish to have a European perspective goes through the fulfilment of the Copenhagen criteria. Without double standards, without hidden agendas and always based on the interests of the peoples of Europe and our neighbourhood. We will always remember how the historic moment was this agreement of Greece and North Macedonia with the signatures of Tsipras and Zaev. We are firmly in favour of the accession course of North Macedonia and the Western Balkans, provided that the European acquis is respected. I therefore call on the European Commission to show the same zeal for the Western Balkans as it does for Eastern Europe.

Madam President, Commissioner, we agree with your assessment. Children must be protected from intolerance, from fear, racism, fascism, from selective rights for the few, from corruption, from hatred. That's how we know, that's how I understand it. Not as an authoritarian government understands it. In the 21st century, you cannot say no to love or freedom or solidarity or inclusion. Mr Orbán is fragmenting, step by step, all the achievements of today’s European society and the European values that have been won with many struggles and many hardships – and with blood, I would say. Commissioner, we call for and demand the immediate launch of new infringement procedures against Hungary. Neither freedom nor the acquis communautaire can be banned in Budapest. The Members of the European Parliament of the Democratic Arc will be there. We will be in Budapest on June 28th. To give political cover to people who claim the right to freedom and existence. Rendezvous in Budapest!

Mr President, Commissioner, you have finally come to the European Parliament. The Left has worked hard to accept our request. Honestly, I wonder what the political forces that refused you wanted to protect you from. We denounce the exclusion of MEPs, and we denounce the exclusion of non-attached Members in this debate. Commissioner, the Commission was aware of what preceded the Tempi crime. He knew and did not act as he should. The responsibilities of the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure, the Prime Minister himself and DG MOVE are very heavy. Since 2017, there has been an investigation into the critical and non-existent contract between the Ministry and OSE. It took six years for Greece to reach the Court of Justice of the European Union. After the crime in Tempi, the contract was submitted in a hurry and panic and the case was withdrawn, but without checking the compatibility with Directive 2012/34/EU. How is this justified when DG MOVE itself now raises objections to the content? I'm asking for an answer. In 2023, ERA finds a clear absence of effective safety oversight on the Greek railway. Nevertheless, the Commission does not open the infringement procedure until December 2024 – with your signature, I note this. Instead of lobbying, it not only welcomes but also funds an action plan without a legal basis. Give me an answer for that, too. The EODASAAM shall operate with members appointed directly by the Minister. In other words, does the Commission – I ask – understand the concept of functional independence of the body? A report was issued by the President, who had a legal relationship with the Railway Regulatory Authority. Was there a conflict of interest of the President examined? A government order – what Ms Vozeberg did not see – was issued by the State Secretary to the Prime Minister at the scene of the crime, the site of the accident, and a number of crucial pieces of evidence were destroyed. I was absent from the committee. A safety certificate was issued by ERA to Hellenic Train. Conditional certificate. For ERA and the Commission, can the protection of human life be conditional? I ask, Commissioner. Today, June 17, 2025, who is responsible for the safety of Greek railways, for workers and passengers? The families of the 57 dead – and a whole people – are asking for truth and oxygen.

Mr President, Commissioner, you have told us that we have done a very good job. Thank you very much. And what did you do with this job? That's the big question. In the last term we set up the committee of inquiry, we made findings, we worked a lot, and in 2025 we have Paragon in Italy. Let me inform you that the judicial investigation in Greece into the surveillance scandal through the Predator software is becoming an institutional parody. The Deputy Prosecutor of the Supreme Court ruled out any responsibility of the National Intelligence Service, which – listen, listen – is part of the office of the Prime Minister of Greece, and called it a ‘coincidence’ that 27 persons, including ministers, MEPs, politicians and journalists, were simultaneously being monitored by the Predator at the behest of the National Intelligence Service. Although he tracked down the individuals behind the software, he only prosecuted them for a misdemeanor. Why is it? Because prosecution for a felony would lead to an investigation by a court-appointed investigator, which the government did not want. Thus, one of the biggest political scandals was closed without ever passing into the hands of an interrogator. The example of Poland could, of course, be followed by Greece. I think we're meteors, really, and we're unprotected when the organs don't take a stand and don't do their job.

Mr President, Commissioner, you have told us that we have done a very good job. Thank you very much. And what did you do with this job? That's the big question. In the last term we set up the committee of inquiry, we made findings, we worked a lot, and in 2025 we have Paragon in Italy. Let me inform you that the judicial investigation in Greece into the surveillance scandal through the Predator software is becoming an institutional parody. The Deputy Prosecutor of the Supreme Court ruled out any responsibility of the National Intelligence Service, which – listen, listen – is part of the office of the Prime Minister of Greece, and called it a ‘coincidence’ that 27 persons, including ministers, MEPs, politicians and journalists, were simultaneously being monitored by the Predator at the behest of the National Intelligence Service. Although he tracked down the individuals behind the software, he only prosecuted them for a misdemeanor. Why is it? Because prosecution for a felony would lead to an investigation by a court-appointed investigator, which the government did not want. Thus, one of the biggest political scandals was closed without ever passing into the hands of an interrogator. The example of Poland could, of course, be followed by Greece. I think we're meteors, really, and we're unprotected when the organs don't take a stand and don't do their job.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, this is not the first time and unfortunately it will not be the last time that we will be concerned about Mr Orbán's recidivist government, which is escalating authoritarianism in Hungary and is steadily moving away from democratic values. When we show tolerance, we get results like this. After the legal apartheid of the withdrawal of citizenship by political opponents of Mr Orban, after the abolition of gender recognition and the ban on pride, after the legalisation of state pogroms against vulnerable social groups, after the public support for Netanyahu's ethnic cleansing, with yesterday's decision to leave the International Criminal Court at the top, I think that the Orban government will also pass a law on the alleged transparency of public life, with the real aim of stigmatising, discrediting, silencing the opposing voices, dismantling what remains of democracy in Hungary. These aren't just annoying thorns. It is an undemocratic policy. He is opposed to what the Union stands for, at least in words. We, the Left, call for the immediate activation of the new infringement procedures, a new suspension of disbursement of funds and the political marginalisation of anti-democratic Orbanists in the EU institutions.

Madam President, today the Europe of principles and values is indifferently watching the genocide of the Palestinian people by the war criminal, Benjamin Netanyahu. The far right and the right are trying to rewrite history. It all started last year. No, we do not have an occupying army and Israeli-occupied territories in Palestine. We have no deportees to Palestine. I am talking about genocide. It is a crime against humanity. The disgraceful attitude of European leaders and von der Leyen towards complicity in crime is shameful. The European Parliament can save, even at this last moment, the dignity of Europe and the lives of children. We call for the immediate suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement, a ceasefire, a viable political solution, the reintroduction of the 1967 borders, and, of course, a ban on arms exports to Israel. We can say it out loud, Palestine has a voice and has a right to exist. Freedom in Palestine.

Madam President, 80 years since the end of World War II and 80 years since the great anti-fascist victory. Let us remember the causes. Let's reread the story; We must not rewrite history as interests demand, so that we do not repeat the same mistakes because this will constitute a crime in crime. Let us remember that the contradictions of capital in Europe and America strengthened, financed and giganticized fascism and Nazism on our continent. To remember and honor the victims of this atrocity: Jews, communists, socialists, democrats, anti-Nazi democrats, the LGBTIQ community, the different, the helpless. Victims of the ideology of misery about pure race, Aryan race. To honor the millions of victims, ordinary soldiers, young folk children who did not enjoy life. To honor the partisans, the rebels, the women, the men who went out into the mountains to resist and face the Nazi fascist atrocity. My country, a small country, lost one-seventh of its population. At least 650,000 were executed, starved to death, murdered. All the Greek treasure was stolen and burnt hearths, burnt villages, martyr villages were left behind. On the occasion of today's anniversary, here, from the podium of the European Parliament, I bring back the issue of Greek claims concerning compensation and reparations for damage suffered by my country and its citizens during the First and Second World Wars, for war reparations for the victims, the descendants of the victims of the German Occupation, the repayment of the occupation loan and the return of the stolen and illegally removed archaeological and cultural goods. From my country, Greece, which stood up to Nazism and fascism. It is fair; Europe without justice does not exist.

Madam President, Commissioner, let us begin with the fundamental: The data belongs to us. The data belongs to the citizens. Secondly, social media is not just – as I have heard here – another market, a technological product or a problem – as I have heard from my conservative colleague. It is a public space, so we are clearly raising the issues of citizens' rights here. The Irish authorities were correct in imposing a fine on TikTok. However, fines have been imposed in the past, but the problem seems to be growing. This is evidenced by many recent examples of systematic and targeted social media malpractice that goes beyond consumer profiling. From the shadowy interference in Romania to Musk's open support for the German far right in the German elections, the platforms prove to be problematic and, of course, play a role in manipulation. New legislative, executive and diplomatic initiatives are therefore needed to strengthen the citizen in this new situation.

I won't argue. I won't argue with you. To note just to know that the price of tomatoes in my own country, in Greece starts from 10 minutes from the field and arrives from the field and reaches the shelf 10 times more expensive. So we have both impoverished farmers and poor consumer citizens essentially. I think that what we call the basic control mechanism of the Union is needed here, because we have a lot of questions about how we produce, how we distribute, what happens to the monopolies that actually distribute food, as we also have a different price. In France, in Greece, in Italy, the pleasant. It is.

Madam President, Commissioner, thank you very much for listening to me. A few weeks ago, Mrs Metsola said here that "Europe must stand up today, or they risk ignoring it tomorrow". I agree. But there is also a saying in my country that says, "A fasting bear does not dance." In other words – to make it clearer – ‘stature’ also requires a full stomach. Instead, Europe-wide – after almost a century – the massive concern of a nightmarish food crisis is returning. But what's the big difference with those dark times? At the time, the crisis was due – for different reasons – to food scarcity and the crisis of capitalism. Today, in the societies of supposed abundance, the shelves of the great merchants are full of food, but the pocket money of the citizen cannot meet. Expensive food, poor food, expensive housing, low wages. How, then, are we going to stand up with food dependence on third countries, such as Mercosur-type agreements, with impoverished producers-farmers, weak economic citizens, with tolerance for the super-profits of wholesalers, intermediaries and monopolies? So, growth for all or for a few? Growth for everyone except the cliques.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, everything finally has its explanation. When you tolerate extreme anti-democratic behaviour within the Union, how will you condemn Mr Erdoğan, or when you have a hypocritical sensibility? The Orbán government is continuing to deepen authoritarianism in Hungary. It is systematically attacking democracy and human rights under the tolerance of the European leadership, and of course Mrs von der Leyen. Now he's mounting a despicable legal atrocity. It strips its political opponents of their citizenship, creating a regime of legal apartheid. It abolishes gender recognition and bans pride, legitimizing state pogroms against the LGBTIQ community. It establishes martial law with a permanent state of emergency that allows it to govern in perpetuity with decrees and emergency legislation. These are not just undemocratic measures. It is the organized marginalization of European citizens, of Hungarian citizens. We call for the immediate activation of new infringement procedures and a new moratorium on the disbursement of funds. No Hungarians, no women, no men, no European citizens under authoritarian rule. Rendezvous in June in Budapest.

Madam President, first of all, we have heard here today that French justice is also being called into question. At the end of the day, you never get hurt. And in the European Union, the dust has just left Qatargate; and I recall for some who have forgotten that they were countries involved, officials, MEPs, as well as the Vice-President. The Chinese telephony scandal came vigorously, and before we even started talking, we had a new evil: The French court's decision on Mrs. Le Pen, which some are trying to justify. Aren't these coincidences or unfortunate events like many for the system? What are these forces, which in the initial reading agree on the need for substantial shielding measures, but in the process forget? I remind you that in the previous Qatargate scandal the Left had made concrete and realistic proposals. I invite you to re-read the code as an example. We had called for former MEPs to be banned from working in relevant lobbies immediately after their term of office. That didn't happen either. And you don't call it a revolution! So we think that the system is rotten, there is a stench and it needs to be changed. Let's at least open a window, so for the pretexts.

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, restructuring goes with a hard legacy: We have 3,200 dead workers a year here, in the Europe of democracy, and we must take this very seriously, because the restructuring of businesses in the Union cannot be limited to strategies just to strengthen competitiveness, but must also prioritise the safeguarding of labour rights, jobs, with strong, active involvement of the social partners in the processes, as my colleague said before, in collective labour agreements. And I wanted to say something else, that the Union's industrial policy must put workers and the environment at its core, so that the transition to what we call 'clean industry' goes hand in hand with what we call 'nice and proper democracy', which means that the tools we have in our hands, such as artificial intelligence, must also be for the benefit of workers, that is, the surplus value produced by the robot, artificial intelligence, cannot be taken over by all capital. The workers must also take from it, in order to be able to withstand the insurance funds and of course the people. An industry or a development for the many, not for an elite. Thank you very much.

Madam President, as an ex-journalist, every day like this brings me sadness and anguish. We commemorate Jan and Martina today, not just today, every day. And Daphne and George Karaivaz, the dozens of journalists who lose their lives in the war zones, but also here in the European Union, in the countries of peace, in the Union of Peace. And while we honor the dead journalists, at the same time new surveillance scandals erupt in Italy, where journalists accidentally investigated issues of corruption, organized crime and neo-fascist action, I learn. Pegasus, Predator and now Paragon. Names, extortion, threats, surveillance of journalists, deaths of journalists. As long as the Union does not take effective measures to combat the phenomenon, as long as we do not insist on full transparency and freedom and democracy, we will be grieving journalists as victims. Free and independent media. We've got a long way to go and we're going too late.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, unfortunately Serbia is undergoing a phase of corrosive deregulation. Political and economic instability has peaked, corruption is galloping, and local authorities are deviating from fundamental democratic and juridical imperatives. Serbia, however, is a country with an accession perspective, that is, a country that we are committed to supporting in practice and our position is to enlarge our Union towards the Western Balkans, but with conditions. The preconditions are the rule of law, which we see that in general, both in Serbia and elsewhere, it is not doing very well. Once again, however, our leadership, the leadership of the Union, stands awkward and undecided in the face of the dangerous developments in the Western Balkan region. Instead of bending over and working intensively with Serbia on issues of the rule of law, the economy and institutional reforms, in order to strengthen this perspective of the country, it confines itself to the barren findings and practically abandons the country to its fate. So, for our Union, our Union must send out a clear message, not a false one.

Mr President, I agree with my Socialist colleague. We had asked in the previous term to become a foundation for the issue of missing persons. We demanded it and we were not listened to. We had asked for the flag of Cyprus to be raised for the 50th anniversary of the Turkish invasion, but we were not heard. I'm going to talk about Cyprus. Cyprus is the only occupied state of the European Union. Three factors contributed to the drama: Turkish expansionism, the Greek junta and NATO. For fifty-one years Cypriots have experienced international timidity and hypocrisy, despite the decisions of the United Nations. The right of people to bury and say goodbye, to honor their man for the last time. Nine hundred and fifty-one Cypriot families are seeking a sense of responsibility from the European institutions for the ultimate right, for their missing persons. For a united federal Cyprus, where Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots will live together in their common homeland, all together in our so-called common home called Union. A house which has a Member State with an occupying army.

Madam President, Prime Minister, I am really glad that you are here and I just want to say that when we caress the narrative of the far right, we strengthen its voice and that of the Alt-Right, even here in the European Parliament. And I think you understood it very clearly. I am sincerely pleased that the Article 7 procedure for Poland has ended since May and I really want to see Poland – the beloved Poland – respect the rule of law and human rights. But I am concerned and seriously concerned that, despite all the issues of the recent past, the priorities of the Greek Presidency, on the seven main axes, do not give priority to access to justice and fundamental rights. When we visited Warsaw in February 2022 with the Rule of Law Subgroup, we had discovered the illegal Pegasus software and the PEGA Committee was set up. And in my country, Greece, we had very serious issues with the Pegasus issue. I'm talking about Predator. I would be grateful if you could inform us of developments in this area. And one last one, an invocation, is not yet conceivable in Poland to have a Free Zone for LGBTIQ people.

Madam President, Commissioner, if things were going so well - because there is a lot of self-praise - we would not have the problems in Romania. Yesterday, however, we officially understood that the clock turned to 1935, from Mr. Trump's speech. We have the God-sent reviewer of history and his money propagandist, Mr. Musk. Finally, Mr Musk appears to have parliamentary representation here. So passionate about Mr Musk from fellow MEPs, not so passionate about human rights. I want to tell you that personal data, sensitive state secrets, confidential information, classified documents of the utmost importance, political algorithms, at any time can be found in the hands of people who are working on political, social, economic destabilization. Musk, the Chinese, Cambridge Analytica – let us not forget – or someone else. It is crucial to see what we do. We expect the Commission and governments to take the implementation of the Digital Services Act forward with a stronger hand, and we call on the Union institutions to continuously update the relevant legislation with new provisions and to prevent us from facing emerging challenges. History, when repeated, becomes a farce and the days of 1935 will not be relived today. Or then with the Hitlerites and Goebbels or today with others who admire him.

Madam President, there is something in the Union called the 'acquis' which is the minimum basis for understanding and coexistence. We've got to get things back to square one. Let's let some people know that this is not the United States of America and Mr. Trump, this is Europe. Let them know. Our acquis in the field of civil and social rights is clear. Discrimination is not only unfair and theoretically unacceptable in the Union context, but the Union is obliged to take active action and eliminate it. We call on the Commission, as it did in the similar case of Hungary in 2022, to launch the corresponding proceedings against Bulgaria as well. The recent legislative initiative of the Bulgarian government is extremely dangerous and inexplicable.

Madam President, Commissioner, thank you very much for your cooperation. As an ex-journalist, I have something to note: I don't look at the political group that is in government to be strict, whether they are socialists or whether they are conservative right-wingers. The Maltese issue is very serious. We went to Malta. We found that there is a serious issue, as there was a very serious issue both in Eastern Europe and in Greece. I remind you of the murder of George Karaivaz, which remains unsolved. There are a few features: the state involvement of political actors, their relationship with organised crime and the culture of impunity prevailing at almost all levels. These characteristics currently exist in the Member States. Second, the political reflexes of the system: Somewhere they give up, somewhere they pretend they don't understand. In Greece, for example, I remind you that two people were arrested a month before the elections and acquitted after the elections. Karaivaz is dead. We never learned the truth. Therefore, this debate is only interesting if all the democrats come to a conclusion together. Is the case of the murder of Dafni Caruana Galizia a memorial or is it a springboard to change things in our Union?