What Konstantinos spoke about.

1

Feb

2023

EL Speech

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Preparation of the Special European Council meeting of February, in particular the need to develop sustainable solutions in the area of asylum and migration (debate)

Mr President, what Mr Weber said, that walls are not taboo, frightened me a little. I never saw the Berlin Wall as a taboo, nor the wall in Nicosia. So I find his statement rather misplaced – not to say unhistorical. A pragmatic and humanitarian response to the issue can only be achieved at European level through legal and controlled safe pathways, with an application for asylum combined with a ma…

18

Jan

2023

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Terrorist threats posed by far-right extremist networks defying the democratic constitutional order (debate)

Madam President, fascism does not come from the future, 'fascism does not come from the future, supposedly something new to bring us'. We know him, we paid him, we hurt, we bleed. And the far right is not an ephemeral phenomenon. It is a situation that is armed, watered and rekindled here, in these parliamentary benches. Today, the first vote was very worrying, very worrying. All those who, in the…

14

Dec

2022

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

Mr President, () I did not quite understand this memorandum of cooperation about Greece, if you can explain it to us in your second reading, because I did not understand whether Greece is an accession state or a member. I'll explain why I'm saying this. What are the steps to transform a liberal democracy into an illiberal, progressively authoritarian one? I was a journalist. I've been fired a few …

13

Dec

2022

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Suspicions of corruption from Qatar and the broader need for transparency and accountability in the European institutions (debate) (debate)

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, we all feel this 'backstabbing' in the joint effort, in Parliament, in democracy, in the rule of law. But because it is not worth sticking only to findings, however shocking they may be, I think that we need to go substantially to measures for the prestige and essence of the institution. Justice will talk about criminal liability. But we must take political resp…

23

Nov

2022

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The need for a European solution on asylum and migration including search and rescue (debate)

Mr President, once again today we are talking about thousands of lives lost in the Mediterranean – those we know, because there are also some thousands of missing people we do not know. And while Turkey's criminal attack on Ukraine is raging, a few days ago we had Turkey's military attack on Syria. President Metsola spoke of restraint. Whose? - Whose? Turkey, the dead, the missing or the new refug…

19

Oct

2022

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Whitewashing of the anti-European extreme right in the EU (topical debate)

Mr President, I was listening to the representatives of the European People's Party and I got the title 'My nice washing machine'. That is, as if you do not understand what happened in Sweden, as if you do not understand what is happening in Italy. Mussolini's friends have come to things and you consent to it. The extreme right is treated in a way – I will leniently say – ‘apolitical’, both as a n…

18

Oct

2022

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Setting up a comprehensive framework for missing children and missing persons at risk (debate)

Madam President, Commissioner, we could not help but support you in this endeavour. The title is "Missing persons: Wanted or unclaimed? As far as the refugee issue alone is concerned – I would add my colleagues – there have been 25,000 missing persons in the Mediterranean since 2014 and they are mostly children. In Greece, a few days ago we again had a shipwreck in Kythera; We'll add another 15 pe…

17

Oct

2022

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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, ladies and gentlemen, let us first thank OLAF for confirming what we knew. But why not let the world know? Why is this report hidden and why should citizens learn about it through the press? Mr. Leggeri resigned, or we "resigned". In Greece, Mr. Leggeri was awarded for exactly the same reasons. Here, then, is a contradiction, and I want to note a few things: 92 people naked in Turkey…

17

Oct

2022

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The Rule of Law in Malta, five years after the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia (debate)

Madam President, Commissioner, five years after the murder of Daphne, we are again here to discuss Malta, the rule of law and the safety of journalists. Let us be clear that the Maltese case is going too late in the first place. There are serious issues that we saw during our visit to Malta and, of course, I would like to note – to catch up – that Daphne Galizia’s relatives cannot yet be tried in …

13

Sep

2022

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The urgent need for action at EU level to ensure humane treatment of migrants in Europe, including at the borders (debate)

Madam President, it is a little scary to hear fascism in the European Parliament, but to come to the point. The instrumentalization, which sounds very loud here, must also have an identity. So Turkey is not instrumentalizing the issue? I would say that this is an ideological battle and I think we have understood it – or we have understood them. For years now we have been trying to explain and conv…

12

Sep

2022

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Surveillance and predator spyware systems in Greece (debate)

Mr President, how can such a scandal be contained now in a minute? But it fits into one name: Mitsotakis Because what we are facing today is not about software in general, Commissioner, and companies that trap our phones. We have the prime minister of a democratic country, Greece, who by his own law is the head of the National Intelligence Service and who monitors his political opponent, Nikos And…

5

Jul

2022

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EU action plan for the social economy (debate)

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, Mr Schmit, I am very pleased to see you and I must tell you that we very much like to work with you. I think we're in a very good direction and we're going to share some thoughts, see if we can help. The social economy functions over time or should function over time as a support of society and in times of crisis. We lived through the great decade-long crisis in…

3

May

2022

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Threats to the safety of journalists and media freedom, on the occasion of the World Press Freedom Day (debate)

Madam President, I have been doing this work for thirty years, I am a journalist, and we will miss some colleagues today who cannot commemorate World Press Day. To be called Daphne, to be called George Karaivaz, to be called by their names, those who perished on the fronts of Ukraine? However, in Europe there is a big question – this is the issue – who dominates whom: Do media magnates dominate po…

8

Mar

2022

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The deterioration of the situation of refugees as a consequence of the Russian aggression against Ukraine (debate)

Mr. President, this "real refugees" and "real refugees, while the others are not" has been said by the Greek Minister of Immigration. Let's watch out for this poison! Refugees are refugees. Pain is pain and if this directive was not activated in 2015 – I am from Greece and a million people were then in our waters, at our borders, and we were asking for solidarity – we understand why. Because you d…

7

Mar

2022

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Citizenship and residence by investment schemes (debate)

Mr President, of course we agree with the rapporteur, with Mrs Sophia in 't Veld, without asterisks. The dossier we are debating today is one that unites logic, because events have passed us by, ladies and gentlemen. Today we say clearly that an elite of oligarchs is arming and of course arming and helping the authoritarian, undemocratic Mr. Putin to strike women, men, children, civilians in Ukrai…

16

Feb

2022

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The Rule of Law and the consequences of the ECJ ruling (debate)

Madam President, a few hours ago, the plenary session of the Court of Justice of the European Union dismissed Hungary's and Poland's appeals against the conditionality mechanism. This is a very interesting development. Let this decision be the opportunity to reach the ears of every woman, every man, everyone, everything, Poland and Hungary, every European citizen, that the rule of law, the core of…

24

Nov

2021

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Fundamental rights and the rule of law in Slovenia, in particular the delayed nomination of EPPO prosecutors (debate)

Mr President, Minister, this time you have not brought us a video. We saw you live. And we have all accepted here that the European Union lives with its contradictions. But this also gives a particular political interest to our Union. But the case of Mr Janša is, I think, a superlative overrun, as on the one hand he presides over an institution which on the other he discredits. What do I mean. I w…

10

Nov

2021

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The escalating humanitarian crisis on the EU-Belarusian border, in particular in Poland (debate)

Madam President, we have also heard this: 'They will not freeze, they will not die at our borders, but at the borders of others'. But this is the question, in whose borders and in whose soil will people die or will they die? The current situation at Poland's border with Belarus is the result of the European Union's political stalemate on the refugee issue. The instrumentalisation of refugees by th…

20

Oct

2021

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The rise of right-wing extremism and racism in Europe (in light of recent events in Rome) (debate)

Madam President, today's debate is very timely, and congratulations, Commissioner. The fascist is ashamed to say that he is a fascist, but, because the events of Rome come in conjunction with the events of Athens – you will find out that the Nazis took to the streets and beat people again in the last few days, while a Nazi was also released from prison – I want to put the matter a little different…

19

Oct

2021

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The Rule of law crisis in Poland and the primacy of EU law (debate)

Mr President, Mrs von der Leyen, our inaction, the inaction of the European Commission, I think has brought us here and we have a responsibility for that. We saw, on the other hand, an Alt-Right show with the prime minister. What has happened here today, in the European Parliament, is an ideological struggle. Why has the European Union been built? We need to get things back on track. The concepts …

18

Oct

2021

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Employment and social policies of the euro area 2021 (debate)

Madam President, Commissioner, this has been a very good job and we would like to thank the rapporteur for helping to achieve a very good result with both dialogue and composition. In our opinion, this report is in the right direction. It is a common finding that in the post-COVID era – we are still in the midst of the pandemic – bold policies and changes in the economic governance of the European…

16

Sep

2021

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United States sanctions and the Rule of law (continuation of debate)

Madam President, the title of Politico is very harsh: The United States imposes sanctions on Bulgarian high-ranking officials, but the United Europe does not give a damn. Something's going on here. If the United States of America attacks a Member State of our Union, we must see how we support the Member State but, if the Americans are really right, who are right, then in this case someone is not d…

15

Sep

2021

EL Speech

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Media freedom and further deterioration of the Rule of law in Poland (debate)

Madam President, what is happening in Poland is particularly worrying because the circumvention of basic principles of the rule of law strikes at the core of our principles, democracy and Union. The alt-right's attempt to take for granted, as a de facto right of a Member State, and in particular of a Member State's government, to blacken democracy, is, I think, something that cannot but be stigmat…

13

Sep

2021

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Fair working conditions, rights and social protection for platform workers - New forms of employment linked to digital development (debate)

Madam President, this is not where the friends of the platform clash with the enemies of the platform. Here the friends of progress do not clash with the others who are in the previous century. Here comes the question of who are those who do not want rights for workers. The fear of the past, which I have heard many times, is that people should have rights and people should have rights in the new c…

7

Jul

2021

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Breaches of EU law and of the rights of LGBTIQ citizens in Hungary as a result of the adopted legal changes in the Hungarian Parliament - The outcome of 22 June hearings under Article 7(1) of the TEU regarding Poland and Hungary (debate)

Mr President, first of all I should like to express my great sadness and concern at yesterday's murderous attack on my fellow journalist in the Netherlands. And get to the point. Homophobia kills! The lack of freedom of the press, the refusal to protect journalism kills! Samuel died yesterday in Spain. In Greece we lost Zak, Zak and Dimitra were murdered, victims of homophobia. We hear terrible an…