What Thijs spoke about.

Mr President, Nikita Zolotariov, born in 2004, is a now 17—year—old boy. He was arrested and convicted to almost five years in prison after attending the protests of last year. His parents are unsure if he is still alive because he is dependent on medication. A political prisoner – a child! There are over 700 political prisoners, and Lukashenka has still room and resources to intimidate, and worse still, abroad. I asked in July to start preparing new sanctions, not to lose any time. We need to stop the cynical bargaining, without exceptions among the individual Member States. Instead of cynical bargaining, we need to engage more non—EU countries to achieve the most complete isolation possible. Lukashenko is pushing vulnerable people over the border. This is unacceptable, but pushing them back and leaving them to die can never be the European answer. I urge the Polish authorities to find a solution now in cooperation with the Commission and Member States. And the latter, the Member States, should stop looking away because one Moria is already one too many. Creating many ‘Morias’ at our external borders would be a moral failure.

Mr President, the EU—US Transatlantic Partnership – the renewed reinforced partnership – is opening a new chapter of closer bilateral relations following the election of Joe Biden. The EU and the US are the bedrock of the rules—based international order and champions of multilateralism, democracy and human rights. But we should also acknowledge the differences between the EU and the US, and that is only healthy in a long—standing friendship. A clear, self-confident strategic vision is then necessary. In that sense, the drafting of the EU Strategic Compass is an important step forward, and it should be accompanied with a more united, decisive foreign policy decision—making. An effective transatlantic relationship should focus on what we can do together – what we can do together as two strong partners sharing so much more than what divides us.