Speeches

Mr President, six years have passed since the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia. I have seen the EPP rapporteur's passion for this case in Malta. I hope he has the same passion for other cases, such as the case of Giorgos Karaivaz. Because I cannot tolerate as a journalist the game and the battle of two political groups depending on who governs the country. It's a mistake. We need to focus on the substance, on the key issue, which is democracy and the rule of law and the protection of journalists. Since then, we have been counting dead journalists: Ján Kuciak and his fiancée in 2018, Viktoria Marinova in 2018, Giorgos Karaivaz in 2021, the Dutchman Peter de Vries in 2021. This is what is happening in the Europe of democracy, the rule of law, freedom of expression. Dear colleagues, as long as the perception prevails that the culture of impunity, but also the silencing and cover-up, prevail over the truth, as it has become normal to abandon the protection of journalists and the same journalism from malicious attacks, I am afraid that we will have continuity. Daphne Caruana Galizia’s family is still waiting for vindication; So does the family of my colleague, Giorgos Karaivaz. As a last resort for the journalists who have perished, I propose to all of you, to all democratic political groups, on the initiative of our Parliament, that we adopt the families of the victims of free expression. In other words, I propose the establishment of a support and support fund, so that people, spouses and children, in their pain, can endure, stand on their feet, beyond the pride they have for the work of their people.

Madam President, I feel that they are heroes at the time of battle, disposable tools afterwards. This is the reality, and I have listened carefully and listened to speakers from the major factions. Tell your governments to do it. I am following the thinking of our rapporteur, I think it is in the right direction, and I say this: At a time when Europe is burning and sinking, the number of paid firefighters is decreasing. With this story we have less state. I don't get it. From the moment I speak to you in my country, the men and women of the fire brigade, the seasonal firefighters and the volunteers are in the waters of flooded Thessaly. Yesterday it was in the forests of Evros and Corfu and Rhodes and everywhere, on the front line, and the day before yesterday in the earthquake. Heroes during battle, expendable afterwards. In my country there are 4,000 vacant organic posts and instead of filling them, we have the modern discovery of seasonality. What kind of idea is that? But the worsening climate crisis highlights the need for permanent staff. The huge pay gap between the firefighter of the South and the firefighter of the North needs to be closed. One of our tools is the European Minimum Wage Directive. Why isn't he moving on? And of course the European register, to which our rapporteur referred. That's a great idea! To be supported. We must act collectively in a single plan. This story concerns us all.

Madam President, first of all, good evening to all of you and to the Commissioner. I have listened carefully, I have listened carefully and I have listened carefully to the rigour and the books of the Palestinian Authority. I will just put a footnote on whether Israel respects Palestinians' right to exist. This is a special case, but I want to say that violence is a general principle that in itself explains nothing more. From there, all value lies in analysis. The flat-rate set-off comes arbitrarily to cancel this entire process, in my opinion. This is a falsified narrative and is imposed in terms of dogma on the public perception. In the well-known populist motif of neoliberal revisionism, the dangerous, deceptive and simplistic theory of the two extremes is persistently returning. This is very dangerous and unhistorical. Unfortunately, it is even more sad and corrosive for this debate, with these features of unhistorical egalitarianism, to take place, and thus be institutionally legitimised, within the European Parliament itself. Europe, guided by proportionality and honest assessment of events, ends up with such approaches to deny its own identity, to become unhistorical, to forget what happened in 1930, 1935, 1940, to consciously succumb to the dark methods. And this unhistorical and dangerous project of netting gives an alibi to criminals of our past, but also of our future.

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, we are talking about crime and I think we all agree, regardless of what point of view we see it from. A crime, because we knew it, as we all know very well that it will happen again, so let's prepare the speeches for the next crime. I'm sure the majority here are sad. The question is whether the sadness is limited to the finding or whether we should go a little further. Of course - and unfortunately we have heard it - there are some who stand on these tragedies indifferently or shout, as we heard here on the benches. We are two worlds colliding, the world of humanity and the world of inhumanity. In the case of Pylos, we are forced by the tragedy to move, despite our disagreements, to a majority level and go – I will put aside the issues relating to the causes – further, to see what happens from now on. I will put aside the dialogue. As much as Mr Weber and the far right try, the facts confirm that fences are not dissuasive and push people en masse onto other roads, mostly to death. The legal and safe passages to the asylum find us in agreement, Mrs Johanson, and help persuade governments which internally discredit this proposal. They're giving us trouble. This is where my dear colleague, Mrs Vozeberg, can take a position if the PPE agrees with your proposal. Secondly, there are questions about Frontex and we are asking for answers about Pylos. How was the vessel, this hearse, allowed to leave the ports of Libya and Egypt? Didn't anyone see that boat? After the European services detected the voyage and the danger of the situation, why were no orders given for the immediate evacuation of the vessel and the salvation of the people? Who's responsible? And one last thing, I ask for an answer: Why weren't people given lifejackets? Who's responsible?

Madam President, a small breakthrough, today is a very difficult day for Europe and for my country. Out of the question, we have dozens of dead people out there, in Greek and European waters. They are immigrants. I'm going back to the subject. From the Lagarde list, to the Panama Papers, to the Paradise Papers, now to the Pandora papers, to the extraordinary role of investigative journalism and the guilty and condescending role of the political subject. We are talking about at least EUR 2.3 trillion of EU funds ending up in tax havens. That is, on the one hand, citizens or ordinary people should be taxed and controlled - on the other hand, the business and political elite and international organised crime should multiply their capital and journalists should be persecuted. It is unacceptable for the Union to tolerate these suspicious donations of capital. Let's talk straight. We see the Right and the People's Party refusing to disclose data and insisting on not naming the Member States that sponsor such practices. Nor do we hear criticism of the insufficient 15% of the minimum corporate tax rate. So here, face to face, all the political groups take a stand. It's a clear position.

Mr President, Commissioner, we welcome your quick reflexes and moves on the latest developments in Poland. The creation of the special commission to investigate Russian "influence" and the revision of electoral rules a few months before the elections leave in no way questions about the Polish government's goal. And this is none other than trying to control ideas and opposing political opinions. Unfortunately, this example is slowly being followed by other countries to the south. This is an effort and tactic that unfortunately has become a constant in many right-wing conservative governments and stems from the feeling "the state is me, I am the rightful owner of the state, the state belongs to me". And of course patriotic credentials are sought, where the whole state apparatus, with all the means at its disposal, plays the game of tarnishing, silencing, the extermination of the other point of view. Mr. Reynders, on these issues concerning the core of democracy, we will be by your side. We ask you to be even more vertical, because the more we leave room for violations of the rule of law, the more autocracy spreads and ends up unchecked, like gangrene.

Madam President, Commissioner, thank you very much for your contribution, but there is a simple question: Do we have states that do their job and a European Union that does not, or vice versa, or both? Are we losing money or are we losing our souls to corruption? What is defined as corruption? I think we'll define it today: ‘the abuse of delegated power for the individual’s or the system’s own benefit’; i.e. abuse by state officials or entire mechanisms involving, as appropriate, the state, the deep state and the para-state. From small-scale delinquency in a town planning case, to the involvement of police officers in the ‘circuits of the night’ or the participation of ‘circuits of the night’ in the police hierarchy – we heard them on a nationwide network in Greece; from a story where a party leader hires a station chief and we lose 57 people, to the experts that Europe was sending and the country did not want to hear them – it wanted its own – or the investigative procedures. In Greece, eight out of ten citizens see a lot of corruption in the media, politics, public sector, local government, justice and health. Let me come now to be useful: Where is the enforcement mechanism, Mr Schmit? I agree with your suggestion, but I think this is missing: We need new rules, we need control mechanisms and independent authorities, to end this "cooking" against democracy. We need a more robust set of controls and accountability. For us, for the left, it is a question of democracy.

Mr President, Mrs Johansson, I could not disagree with what you have said, under any circumstances. But here you and everyone see that we have two Europes: a Europe that sees and a Europe that does not understand. We are talking about Italy, about the shipwreck, but here, in plenary, two meetings ago, weren't we talking about Kythera? Did I not tell you about the great shipwreck in Kythera, where the ships left from Turkey, from Smyrna, and burst on the rocks of Kythera? No one saw them? Didn't a warship or Frontex see them? This story is getting tired; We need to make constant findings and, on the other hand, not have initiatives. From January to June 2022, on average, five people die a day trying to cross our waters, the Mediterranean. According to UNHCR, the total number of dead or missing persons in the Mediterranean in 2022 is 2,000 people. And don't listen to international law, what it says and so on. We have been saying for years that we want safe and legal migration routes. You said it yourself. But we'll totally agree. Does the right-wing do what they don't understand? That's the main point. Here we have seen many times the phenomenon of smugglers essentially moving under the nose of the state authorities, I do not know whether even under the nose of Frontex. That is why I told you the example of Kythera. I will close as I started, with the words of Ms Metsola. Ms Metsola had a very good speech the other day and said: We are a generation of politicians who cannot ignore reality. Yes, but to legislate, not just to describe the reality, because here there is a very serious issue. So, in closing, the request is: integration, relocation and, of course, legal migration routes.

Madam President, I think Mr Schmit's recommendation is in the right direction, I just want to add two or three things. I think we are again living in a repeat of the same nightmare, especially for countries that have gone bankrupt: social inequalities are increasing, a new dynamic of impoverishment of the middle and small and medium-sized strata emerges, for citizens who are already in the sphere of poverty, nor reason, the situation is tragic. Many of our fellow Europeans are now unable to pay the unbearable bills for housing, communication, water, energy and nutrition. The European Semester, therefore, must and can promote a new production model based on the needs of the many and on social, environmental and fiscal justice, and of course the basic goods must be in the public space and in public control. I am talking about collective agreements, as Mr Schmit said, and I will agree with him on fair and adequate wages, on ensuring workers' mental health, on gender equality. This is the direction of the report we are discussing, which includes many of our priorities. I think we need to take space and actions in this process.

Madam President, breaches of the rule of law can be observed in all Member States. What separates the cases is whether each government is trying to heal the wound or whether it is the wound itself. In the case of Greece, here, the wound is Kyriakos Mitsotakis himself, who perceives the state as his property. From the arrests of parents and children in cinemas for watching the film Joker to the funding lists of friendly media (Petsa list), the murders of petty delinquent Roma by the police, the pushbacks, the police invasion with extreme violence in the director's house, the persecution of journalists and practicing magistrates, we reached the organization and orchestration of surveillance of political and institutional functionaries of democracy with the order and guidance of Mr. Mitsotakis himself. Shocking is the revelation that the systemic media, the senior police officers communicated and received orders from the Greek mafia. And of course George Karaivaz, the journalist who was murdered and we are still looking for the culprits, cannot leave our minds. Today, the Guardian reveals election manipulation in 30 countries, including Greece. Something is happening in Greece. And, of course, we believe that this nightmare will soon end for democracy to win.

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 mandatory equal and proportionate relocation of refugees to all Member States. I agree with what the Socialists have said: Solidarity is forced, not games with the word. European leadership must stop funding and strengthening primarily the causes of the refugee crisis, such as the war and the climate crisis, and focus on projects aimed at the well-being of people at home. What we are seeing today is a failed management and we have created a machine that eats up billions of Europe's citizens to produce new deadlocks, oppression and death. And, of course, there is a simple question: Walls between Europe and accession countries like Turkey? Is Turkey a safe country or not? That's a big question. Let us not fool people and – of course – let us not play with far-right scenarios.

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 their petty political opportunism and with the morbid rhetoric of the internal enemy, end up hatching the serpent's egg have a very heavy historical and political responsibility. The same political families make the same historical mistake of '35. We are in the same play, unfortunately, attributing regularity and legitimacy to an extremist, inhumane, fascist rhetoric, which may have ephemeral victories in the narrative – in elections perhaps, but actually shoots democracy. So those of us here who believe, I think we can ally. Democracy is above all.

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 times over democracy issues. The surveillance scandal in Greece, which we brought to Parliament's bodies, was the surveillance of a journalist. His name is Koukakis, he was investigating the course of suspicious money. Mr Koukakis was considered a national risk because he was also pressing on the issue of money management; the National Intelligence Service was monitoring him, in which, by its own law, the Prime Minister of Greece, Mr Mitsotakis, is responsible. The other victim, journalist Mr Malikoudis, was investigating refugee-related journalistic issues; and this was classified as a national danger by the service headed by the Prime Minister. If I continue with the names, I won't have time. Journalists who exposed the Lagarde list and the Novartis case were brought to justice, mocked, labeled by Greece's prime minister as a "gang", afflicted, acquitted. There is stagnation without any official information. You said the investigation was proceeding. Commissioner, you know what? Because we don't know anything about where we are in Greece. I'm talking about the Karaivaz case. The president of the court changed, I learned, in a case with "greek mafia". Judges leave Greece, prosecutors change country. With the coronavirus we also had lists of sponsored, friendly, media. SLAPPs are an industry in the country. When Mr. Mitsotakis is asked about the 108th place in the freedom of the press, he discredits the institutions and says, "Where did you get these?" In Greece, therefore, anyone can say what they want, it is not a dictatorship, the point is that the journalist cannot find a say in the oligopolies of the press and that is a problem.

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 responsibility, and that will also be reflected in the resolution we will have tomorrow. We therefore propose the creation of an Independent Ethics Authority for European agencies, with investigative and enforcement powers for all agencies, the reinforcement of existing transparency rules, the reinforcement of the European Transparency Register with a mandatory and legally binding character, a mandatory legislative footprint for MEPs drafting reports or opinions, a revised code of conduct with stricter rules for MEPs and officials, especially for gifts and benefits. Let's look at the issue of waiver of immunity for MPs when they are involved in criminal organizations. We already have one in prison, Rabbit, for participating in a criminal, Nazi organisation; He will be paid as usual, as will the defendant. Also, end the story with former MEPs: their mandate has ended, we thank them very much; to stop this "get-out" in Parliament. Let's go make decisions!

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 refugees? Causes are the first issue. The second is our own story. Fortress Europe and promoting the European way of life. How legal is that? How fair and how realistic? The criminalization, then, of the basic principle of rescue, the fundamental principle of the protection of life in a state of emergency? As announced by the four ministers? And here's an issue we don't see for the first time. National policies, either alone or transnational, which go beyond the common European position and stance. Are we sure, then, that the right to apply for asylum will not be criminalized soon? I think, therefore, that as long as the Union is not disengaged from the creation of causes I have mentioned, as long as there are no legal and safe routes for these people to apply for asylum and protection, this crime will continue.

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 narrative and as a practice, with your unhistorical approach and, of course, with this logic of revisionism and revisionism of history. My country had 600,000 dead by Nazis and fascists. Who are you rinsing here? I want to tell you that the right has always invested and continues to invest in creating internal enemies. It criminalizes poverty, criminalizes the different, then the Jews were criminalized by the far right and the fascists and today they criminalize everything that creates a problem in their narrative. The experiences of 1935 should not let us not understand exactly what is happening. We cannot make the same mistakes. We must show no tolerance to fascism, to the extreme right... (The President removed the floor from the speaker)

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 people. And here I have to ask: Why did the search for these people stop? No one's looking for them? When we first raised the issue of missing persons, already before the pandemic, the families of missing persons told us that they were desperately looking for their people from a police station to a police station and from a cemetery to a cemetery, without a common database and without the ability to communicate information. That is why we will support this initiative by the Commissioner and the Commission. Interview number 32 – a brother talks about his sister from Syria: Yes, I need to know where my sister's body is. Now I can find it on Google Maps and visit it occasionally. This, I admit, was a dimension I hadn't imagined. We therefore call for the establishment of a European mechanism based on a common database, accessible to the authorities of all countries, that can provide the necessary information to European citizens or refugees and migrants – those seeking their people. To illuminate what we call the "last right".

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, 120 people in the presence of Frontex in Italy, 75 Afghan refugees returned from Bulgaria to Greece, 10 dead in Kythira and at least 15 missing. The ships are coming, Commissioner, from Izmir to wherever they arrive, to burst at best on the rocks and drown people or some to be saved and some to be lost in international waters. What is happening today is genocide. People are drowning in the Aegean, people are drowning in the European sea. And here's the thing about Frontex. Is there search and rescue in this organization? What exactly does he do when he sees a boat coming from Turkey to Europe? We leave them in international waters and then what? So this is the big issue for me. And of course we must not stop this story here, but move on.

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 lawsuits today. This story has to end. But I heard Mr Weber and he was very strict. Let us be clear here, then, whether we will be more lenient when the government is right-wing and somewhat different in seeing whether the government is social-democratic. The murder of a journalist is a blow to democracy. Of course, we expect to see the same for the killers of Karaivaz in Greece, Marinova, Kuciak, de Vries in the Netherlands. The European Parliament – and I say it as a former journalist – cannot pour water into its wine in matters of democracy. This game of impressions has to stop. We will continue until justice is done for all the journalists who have been murdered so far, but also for the brains, for a system of power so that no one dares to speak.

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 convince that the only realistic solution to the phenomenon we are discussing today is legal and safe channels for applying for asylum, the forced and equal relocation of all refugees to the Member States and real integration policies. We now know that the far right knows that this is realistic, but it does what it does not understand. Because it does not fit and does not "button" the narrative of the far right in Europe and its allies, because in this way they will lose the possibility of instrumentalizing the refugee and migrant issue, the instrumentalization of pain, that is, the need of people to live. I agree with Mrs Sippel, I agree with the Socialists, I agree with Renew, I agree with Mrs Strik from the Greens and I try a little to take the thought further. Without the instrumentalisation of these people, how will the "internal enemy" be created that suits the extreme right-wing rhetoric and polarisation of potential voters? That's what we've been living for, days ’35. You know, ladies and gentlemen, yesterday we had the debate on surveillance in Greece in this Chamber. One of the victims of surveillance in Greece is journalist Malichoudis, who did journalistic research on the refugee issue. He is an enemy for Mr. Mitsotakis, as are the Socialists, the Greens, Renew, NGOs, humanitarian organizations. Here, then, our views – where we ally or agree – would not be described as ‘left’ or ‘radical’ or ‘humanitarian’, but as realistic, meaningful and fully in line with the decisions and values of our Union. And we all know here very well that apathy at sea will always have fatal results, as will fences. They do not prevent people's need to leave war zones. We cannot allow rights to be circumvented by grey procedures as a means of deterrence. Our Europe has nothing to do with America, it won't be Russia, it won't be China, it's what we call the Lighthouse of Democracy. That's our point of view.

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 Androulakis, who is an MEP. And through Mr Androulakis we are watching all the MEPs who are talking to Mr Androulakis. And the day before yesterday you would have heard that Mr Spirtzis, a leading member of the main opposition party, SYRIZA, is also being monitored. Therefore, it is not possible for Mr. Mitsotakis to create internal enemies and create a new type of rule of law as he serves. That is why I think Mr Mitsotakis should give us answers here in the European Parliament. Why is he following us through Mr Androulakis? Let me tell you one last thing: The problem in Greece is that there is no investigation to reveal why surveillance is taking place, but to reveal where the leak came from and we found out.

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 Greece with the bankruptcy and the memoranda. We also experienced it in the Union – you all did – with the COVID-19 pandemic. We are living it now in Europe where we have to deal with a crisis from Putin's war, with the war in Ukraine. Look, the social economy can act as a complementary but parallel model of economic development; a bottom-up model, contributing to social cohesion, tackling unemployment, real inclusion of the vulnerable – what we say, invisible people. And here I want to give you an experience: For 33 years I was in the therapeutic rehabilitation communities in Greece as a volunteer. We worked on these social economy models with clients and it went well. People were helped and leaned on their feet. And the units were viable, they just need to be strengthened here, what we are saying, both by the states and, let alone, by our Union. I also raise other issues, such as respect for labour rights, always with solidarity and democracy in mind. Not to transform the social economy into a competitive environment, as the Right envisions. We think the opposite, that is, that this is not a social laundering. The imposed financial incentives to support it should not become an opportunity for large private companies to speculate again. And one last one; I think that in this battle too Parliament can play its part, as can the Commission, in keeping people at the centre.

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 political power through the press, or does political power through the owners try to impose policies? From Berlusconi's victory in Italy, it was clear that a bell was ringing. That is, that economic interests have control over the media, and of course power. This is a serious matter of political interference in our democracy. Oligopolies and tycoons, from South to North. We see that this phenomenon tends to become a new reality. A new reality, a peculiar regime in the media space. And this is not enough, from the persecution of journalists, from the dismissals of journalists, we have reached the murders, the economic strangulation of the non-systemic media, as the oligarchs, after being allowed to do so by the legal framework, have in their possession the entire production process of the news, from production to the agency. Here we are talking clearly about an overconcentration of power, but on the other hand, a blurred landscape is created, where the basic concept of the separation of powers is lost. Monopoly economic interests and power, media and political power, political power and justice. What I am describing to you, tell me which country brings you to mind; Hungary, Poland, Greece, Italy? I think it is now a new regime in Europe and we need to take it very seriously. Let me tell you something more specific: Murder of journalists. Ours is called George Karaivaz. Surveillance by the National Intelligence Service, which is under the authority of the Prime Minister. Our journalist's name is Koukakis. Persecution of journalists. Her name is Gianna Papadakou. His name is Kostas Vaxevanis. And, of course, the intimidation of those who dare to ask questions with the now settled position of SLAPPs, lists of financial support, which is called to us Petsa list. To close, for the protection of the people of the press, for Eleftherotypia, for Democracy, for the colleagues who were lost, who were murdered, for Tintin who raised us. A motto can be heard: Legislative measures now and freedom for Tintin! Tintin wouldn't find a job in today's conditions.

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 disagreed and did not want to support the government of the Left and you pushed us, one with the refugee issue and one with the memoranda, but now you did the right thing. The Temporary Protection Directive for Ukrainian refugees is quite rightly activated and it is clear that the false narrative of Fortress Europe has already collapsed from the dramatic events. In the one minute I have, I have only this to say: that the architecture of the new migration plan has been overtaken by the events themselves. On the basis of our principles we must agree on a new plan, human, fair, democratic, European.

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 Ukraine. That's the truth. But these elites are not just in Russia. These oligarchs have equal responsibility for crime, you know that very well. The crime against humanity, but also the constant crimes against democracy and within their countries. Such lists of oligarchs existed and exist outside Russia and outside the dramatic events that bring us the news in front of the face, violently, and of course outside the European Union. Is it possible that Member States of our Union are washing machines for those who finance and support such extreme anti-democratic powers? I don't need to mention anything else that everyone here will agree with: It is inhumane and out of every rule to have people tortured, tormented, dying in the cold or drowning in our seas or coming from war zones or being killed by landmines on European borders, and on the other hand to open the door to an elite, to oligarchs, supporters of mostly illiberal regimes that simply have the logic of laundering black money. We've been through this before. We are now more determined and really waiting for the legislative initiative. This is what all democrats and Democrats across Europe expect.