What Sunčana spoke about.

19

Jun

2025

HR Speech

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Institutional and political implications of the EU enlargement process and global challenges (debate)

The enlargement of the European Union is not just a technical process, it is a deep political decision with far-reaching consequences. At a time when Europe is facing war in the east, pressure from the south and growing global rivalries, enlargement is also an investment in security. Croatia is the youngest member of the European Union, but it also has a special responsibility to be a bridge betwe…

17

Jun

2025

HR Speech

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2023 and 2024 reports on Montenegro (debate)

Dear Chair, Honourable Commissioner, Honourable colleague Šarec, first of all I would like to thank you for your report. It is true that Montenegro remains the most prepared candidate for membership in the European Union, but it has been waiting too long for concrete progress. I welcome the new institutional momentum and new efforts by the government, but the number of open clusters and technical …

17

Jun

2025

HR Question

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Implementation report on the Recovery and Resilience Facility (debate)

Dear Chairman, colleague Bosanac, first, it is important to look at what the Court of Auditors said, second, it is important not to muddle your country with the wrong information and third, if it were not for these funds, what do you think Croatia would look like after the devastating earthquakes, what would the city of Zagreb look like if it had been renovated, for example by your party? Therefor…

17

Jun

2025

HR Speech

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Combating the sexual abuse and sexual exploitation of children and child sexual abuse material and replacing Council Framework Decision 2004/68/JHA (recast) (debate)

Dear Chair, Honourable Commissioner, Colleague Lenaers, Colleagues, Protecting Children from Sexual Abuse and Exploitation is not a matter of competence or ideology, I think it is a matter of common sense and that is how we should look at it. In 2023 alone, look at the figures in the European Union, more than 30 million reports of child sexual abuse content. The numbers are frightening. The digita…

8

May

2025

HR Speech

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80 years after the end of World War II - freedom, democracy and security as the heritage of Europe (debate)

80 years since the bloodiest war in human history, Europe has raised the bravest project of peace, but today it is tempted. As the war rages again on European soil, we see a rise in populism and authoritarianism. Fear replaces reason. We have to ask ourselves if we will defend what makes us European. Europe is not just a market community, but a community of values. Europe is not just a geographica…

7

May

2025

HR Speech

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The fine against TikTok and the need to strengthen the protection of citizens’ rights on social media platforms (debate)

For me, the fine against Tik Tok is not a victory, I would say that this may be our late reaction and confirmation that our data protection systems do not work effectively enough. More than 175 million European citizens use Tik Tok. Children, teenagers and young people. Their data ended up on Chinese servers for years, and we continue to observe and discuss. So it's time to do something. I'd say i…

1

Apr

2025

HR Speech

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Presentation of the New European Internal Security Strategy (debate)

According to available Europol data, 821 criminal networks operate on the territory of the European Union. Main activity: drug trafficking, human trafficking, cybercrime and, of course, money laundering. I therefore welcome this initiative, which brings us first and foremost the integrated work of security agencies, which means deeper cooperation between national security services, Europol and Fro…

1

Apr

2025

HR Speech

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Human rights and democracy in the world and the European Union’s policy on the matter – annual report 2024 (debate)

Dear Chair, colleagues, I will address the impact of digital technologies on human rights. I will only remind you that fragile democracy can be extremely dangerous because it is subject to internal and external threats and they can lead to its collapse or transition into so-called autocratic systems. Here are some key reasons why this is a serious problem. First of all, susceptibility to manipulat…

12

Mar

2025

HR Speech

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Union of Skills: striving for more and better opportunities to study, train or work in the EU and to bring our talents back home (debate)

Dear President, Commissioners, colleagues, if we want a strong Europe, we need to give people a reason to stay and a reason to come back. While primary education is, as you know, a Member State competence, Europe can help here. For example, the Erasmus+ programme has already enabled more than 13 million young people to study and train abroad. Let us not forget the ALMA initiative, which opens the …

11

Mar

2025

HR Speech

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Roadmap for Women`s Rights (debate)

Dear Chair, Commissioners, colleagues, women continue to constitute a minority at the top of political, economic and social structures. That's what we concluded today. I don't think we've discovered anything new. However, I would like to remind you that for every euro earned by a man, a woman earns 0.87 euros. The current situation in the European Parliament, a woman is about 40 percent, but among…

10

Mar

2025

HR Speech

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Cutting red tape and simplifying business in the EU: the first Omnibus proposals (debate)

More than half of GDP in the European Union is generated by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Once again, these people employ almost a hundred million people. Colleagues on the left, you say, we don't need an omnibus package. So tell that to those people who have to find money every day to have to produce, to be able to pay their workers. Of course, the omnibus package will not solve ever…

12

Feb

2025

HR Speech

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Silent crisis: the mental health of Europe’s youth (debate)

Dear Chairman, Commissioner, first of all I would like to thank you for not only listening, but also hearing. You mentioned cyberbullying, a topic we discussed even before your appointment, and once again I would like to invite all member states that do not have cyberbullying criminalized to do so as soon as possible. Why am I saying that? According to the latest available data from 2021, almost 5…

12

Feb

2025

HR Speech

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Commission Work Programme 2025 (debate)

Dear Chair, colleagues, we have detected problems and I thank the Commission for this. However, what I want to say on behalf of farmers, small and medium-sized entrepreneurs, on behalf of the Croatian Chamber of Commerce, from which I received feedback, Europe must not be a continent of bureaucrats. Therefore, we need to deliver real solutions for workers, entrepreneurs, craftsmen, farmers and fam…

22

Jan

2025

HR Speech

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Failure of the negotiations in Busan for a UN plastic treaty and the urgent need to tackle plastic pollution at international and Union level (debate)

Dear Chairman, Dear Commissioner, yes, we have all regretted the lack of consensus in Busan, which also points to the complexity of aligning global priorities, but I would say that this must not discourage us. Even though we are aware that we have a plastic crisis, I would call it that, obviously we are not aware that we need to reduce the use of plastic because according to all indicators we cons…

22

Jan

2025

HR Speech

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Addressing EU demographic challenges: towards the implementation of the 2023 Demography Toolbox (debate)

I would like to thank the Honourable President, the Honourable Commissioner, above all for your work over the past five years on this very important topic. Demographic revitalization is not only a social responsibility, but also a key prerequisite for preserving economic, cultural and political sovereignty. Without active and long-term measures, negative demographic trends can have irreversible co…

21

Jan

2025

HR Speech

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Need to enforce the Digital Services Act to protect democracy on social media platforms including against foreign interference and biased algorithms (debate)

The Honourable Chairman, the Honourable Vice-President, the Colleague and the Colleagues, has been spoken here in Goebbels style several times a lie today, namely that the DSA allows censorship. Therefore, once again, as a former journalist, the Digital Services Act is not a censorship act, but freedom of expression does not mean freedom of hate speech at the same time. I hope we all agree. And co…

17

Dec

2024

HR Speech

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Situation of female politicians in EU candidate and neighbouring countries facing harassment and cyber violence (debate)

Dear Chairman, dear Commissioner, you mentioned Bosnia and Herzegovina, but I will also add Serbia, and Kosovo, and Montenegro, and Albania. So, in many other countries, we find examples of this. It is a fact that women in these countries face a combination of political polarisation, gender discrimination and weak protection mechanisms against online violence. Politicians are often the target of s…

17

Dec

2024

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Misinformation and disinformation on social media platforms, such as TikTok, and related risks to the integrity of elections in Europe (debate)

Dear Chair, colleagues, there is no doubt that social media is also used to influence political processes, including elections in Europe. I'll just remind you. Spreading disinformation and fake news during European election campaigns – Germany, France, Italy. Disinformation campaigns were present on social media. Bots, fake profiles, organized campaigns. Foreign influences, hybrid warfare, especia…

28

Nov

2024

HR Speech

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Foreign interference and espionage by third country actors in European universities (debate)

Honourable Chair, Honourable Commissioners, Colleagues and colleagues, I would say that this is not just an academic issue. This is a political and strategic challenge and we are witnessing a really worrying trend where foreign powers are exploiting our academic openness to, let's be honest, say: intellectual property theft, undermining innovation and influencing political discourse. Through unive…

28

Nov

2024

HR Speech

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Strengthening children’s rights in the EU - 35th anniversary of the adoption of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (debate)

The Honourable Chair, the Honourable Commissioners, the Colleagues, some of you in the room, when this convention was adopted, were just born, were children. And they didn't think that 35 years after their birth, we would face the same questions. A striking fact is that one in five children in the Union still live at risk of poverty or social exclusion. One in two children in Ukraine had to leave …

26

Nov

2024

HR Speech

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Full accession of Bulgaria and Romania to the Schengen Area: the urgent need to lift controls at internal land borders (debate)

26

Nov

2024

HR Speech

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Question Time with Commissioners - Challenges in the implementation of cohesion policy 2021-2027

26

Nov

2024

HR Speech

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Question Time with Commissioners - Challenges in the implementation of cohesion policy 2021-2027

23

Oct

2024

HR Speech

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Seven years from the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia: lack of progress in restoring the rule of law in Malta (debate)

Dear Chair, Commissioner, colleagues, for starters, I would like to say that the protection of journalists is not an exclusive right of colleagues from the left. No, it's not. And you mention the crown from which I come. And don't use words about a country you don't know anything about. And now I'm going back to the topic. She was 53 years old, had three children, investigated corruption, publishe…

22

Oct

2024

HR Speech

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Guidelines for the employment policies of the Member States (debate)

It is clear to all that the policy to promote employment and social protection of the European Union faces a number of challenges that require further adjustments and reforms. Digitalisation, the green transition, the fight against youth unemployment and precarious forms of work, as well as the fight against social inequalities, are problems that we would have to address in order to ensure what we…