Speeches

We are counting 10 of the protests in Iran this week. Day after day, people risk their lives, they fight for their lives. They fight because they want it – freedom, life, self-determination and the end of the oppressive regime, which is also trying to brutally crush the protesters. I sometimes struggle with the discourse of human rights when it is too Eurocentric and Western thinking is transferred unreflectively to other groups. But here we see very clearly, these protests, this resistance, the call for freedom comes from the women and the Iranians. And then we are asked once again to react, to act and to support this movement with all our possibilities! We must provide Iranians with means to circumvent internet censorship, protect exiled Iranians in particular, enable safe escape routes and stop any deportations to Iran. In addition, all members of the Revolutionary Guard and the regime and all profiteers must be placed on the sanctions list - directly and without exception! The women in Iran who lead these protests deserve to be heard. That's our job. Woman, life, freedom.

Madam President, dear colleagues, LGBTIQ rights – and I want to make that very clear – are not the rights of this or that percentage of people. They are all of our rights because we can never settle for a society that’s almost fair, for rule of law being almost upheld or for fundamental rights including almost everybody, almost everywhere. So rights need defence, constant defence, and they need it in politics, on the streets, in institutions even in our own homes. We carry a responsibility for keep on creating laws that finally protect queer people from hate, from discrimination, from hostility and also from violence. Also, that only will do justice to the hundreds of thousands of activists that fight for freedom, for the right to live a safe and good life every day. So to all you activists out there, thank you. Thank you for never backing down. We would be nothing without you fighting on the streets for what we are discussing here today.

Mr President, Dear Representation, Ladies and Gentlemen, On 24 June 2023, over 500 people died in front of the Greek Coast Guard, in front of Frontex. All those involved emphasise their lack of competence, explain why they are neither guilty nor responsible, and that is exactly what we must not accept. The Commission and the Council have hesitated, but we, the European Parliament, have acted decisively, we have opened investigations and we had a very clear goal: Borders and especially external borders are not to be understood as a legally free space. Human rights and lives must be protected. Maritime rescuers uphold European law on a daily basis, they secure evidence. But this obligation would be the duty of all of us. Frontex in particular, and the Coast Guard in particular, must not only accept fundamental rights, but above all ensure them. Let's end pushbacks, ensure transparency, responsibility and secure the fundamental right to escape!

Madam President, Exactly a month ago, almost 700 people drowned off the Greek coast, and this is not a sad individual case, but a tragedy that so many have preceded and that many will follow if we do not act. Over 27,000 people have lost their lives in the last 10 years fleeing across the Mediterranean in search of security – a mass extinction that we could and should have ended long ago. A first step towards this is to vote in favour of this resolution, a resolution in which the democratic forces have formulated concrete guidelines to end this death, with a commitment to rescue at sea, to legal routes of flight, to solidarity with the people on the run, to NGOs, which carry out large parts of our political task, and also to solidarity among Member States. People have a right to asylum, they have a right to flee from war and hunger and persecution. And they do so in a global imbalance that puts us on the side of privilege. So if we want to live up to our human, our legal, our European obligation, then we have to agree with this resolution and make sure that it does not remain a lip service. For a true international solidarity!

Madam President, Two months ago, the Austrian President visited Tirana and stressed: Albania has long been part of the European family. Next week I will travel to Tirana with a delegation and I will say the same with conviction. The progress report clearly shows: Albania has made great progress in the important areas of justice, administration and also in the fight against organised crime. The achievements of judicial reform at the heart of the integration process also need to be highlighted, and Albania's accession path is the result of consistent joint work, including consistent implementation. And yes, there are still reforms to be implemented. There are still steps to be taken, but we will also take them together. The European Union, as a credible actor, as a reliable partner, will also keep its promises to the citizens of Albania, and especially to the young generation, who have so much hope of joining the EU. For them, Europe is the future, and the European future includes Albania.

Madam President, When we debate the rule of law today, I would like to say this one thing that is particularly important to me, namely the attack on the rule of law. The danger of their violation, the disregard of the rule of law, can be seen in the same factors: Minority rights are being curtailed, women's rights are being curtailed, the rights of self-determination are under attack. The first victims of the restriction of fundamental rights, the first victims of corruption are minorities, are women, are the critics and are the ones who report on it. And when LGBTQI-free zones are proclaimed, when family concepts are virtually banned, when there is a de facto ban on abortion, when critics are intimidated, that is not the problem of individual groups, individuals, not even individual countries – it is the problem of all of us. As a European Union, we will have to fight, we will have to take all measures, because the rule of law is our safety net. If this safety net gets holes, if cuts are added to it, then this affects all of us. And always.

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, ladies and gentlemen! With straight-forward steps, we are approaching a historic moment. If we, as the European Parliament, are in favour of the European Union joining the Istanbul Convention, then we are sending a signal: a sign to all EU citizens, to women, to young women around the world, to all those who have experienced patriarchal violence; A sign to which, the years that have fought decades against violence against women, who have risen politically, ideologically in institutions, in courts, on the street against patriarchal violence. It is also a sign to the right here that is trying to harm the issue, to harm our concerns with sexist and racist discourses. And it is a sign to those six Member States that have not yet ratified the Convention. We will never stop wondering how to confront political forces fighting to protect women from violence. One in three women in the European Union is affected by violence. And we will repeat this number mantra-like, but we will never stop being shocked by it. Violence happens in all ranks, from the streets to the top floors. It is a structural problem that we will tackle if we stop regressive tendencies, slow down if we implement women's rights unconditionally. The Istanbul Convention is not the end of violence against women, but an important and relevant step in the fight against violence against women and a step that makes me believe in it. (The President withdrew the floor from the speaker.)

Mr President, saving lives is not a crime. Fragen wir uns bitte heute hier eine Sache: Welche Botschaft sendet die strafrechtliche Verfolgung von Seenotrettung wirklich aus, das Verbot von zivilgesellschaftlichem Engagement, die Kriminalisierung von Flucht? In ein anderes Land zu fliehen, einen Asylantrag zu stellen, eine faire, rechtsstaatliche Prüfung zu haben, ist das Recht eines jeden Menschen. Wie oft müssen wir das hier noch wiederholen? Menschenrechte haben nicht nur einen theoretischen Wert, sie gelten immer, sie gelten für alle. Sie hätten auch gegolten für Zehntausende Tote im Mittelmeer. Menschen lassen ihr Leben dort, wo Pushbacks passieren, wo versagte Hilfeleistung Leben gefährdet, wo europäisches Recht gebrochen wird. Alle fragen immer nach Lösungen. Legale Fluchtrouten sind Lösungen. Menschen auf der Flucht nicht zu behindern ist eine Lösung. Niemanden in Seenot zurückzulassen ist die Lösung. Was nicht die Lösung ist: Menschen verfolgen, anklagen und inhaftieren, die dort ansetzen, wo Behördenversagen vorliegt oder der Pflicht der Rettung von Menschen nicht nachgekommen wird. Freispruch für Sarah Mardini und Seán Binder, Freispruch für alle angeklagten Seenotretterinnen und Seenotretter!

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, ladies and gentlemen, In our nation-states, in Europe, worldwide, the growth of right-wing extremist networks and movements and the normalization and presence of their ideas are more than worrying. I am also very concerned about the trivialisation, the denial, which I had to hear here in many speeches, which we all had to hear here. Right-wing extremists in Brazil are storming the democratic institutions. In Germany, right-wing extremists, so-called Reich citizens, planned a coup. We all remember the shocking images from the US of the storm of the Capitol. Right-wing extremist movements are a threat to all of us, to the fundamental values of the European Union. They propagate and defend ideologies that are incompatible with democracy and human rights. The European Parliament has a responsibility to combat right-wing political extremism and all manifestations of xenophobia, racism, anti-Semitism and migratism at all levels. At national and international level, we must take all possible measures to combat this shift to the right. Because one thing is clear: Right-wing extremist movements have no place in our society, they are not part of our political spectrum. Let's make sure they remain a warning lesson in history books.

Madam President, Inalienable, egalitarian, universal, indivisible – these are our human rights. The past year has shown us once again that in reality, unfortunately, it often looks quite different. With Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine, we are witnessing war crimes in the middle of Europe, the most serious violations of international humanitarian law. In the autonomous province of Xinjiang in China, the minority of Uyghurs is subjected to massive repression, massive human rights violations. In the US – and not only there – women are deprived of their fundamental right to physical self-determination. In Iran, people are dying in the fight for their freedom. Human rights are trampled on at the EU's external borders. Worldwide, trends are frightening. The list could be continued for a long time. There is therefore no question that we, the European Parliament, must take a consistent position on this. We must be the counterweight to these frightening developments. The protection and development of human rights – not only in Europe but worldwide – must be at the heart of our political actions.

Madam President, Daphne Caruana Galizia, Jan Kuciak, Lyra McKee, Peter de Vries and Giorgos Karaivaz – persons murdered in the last five years as part of their journalistic work in Europe. There's nothing we can do for them today. What we can do is take our task here and now seriously. Because where women journalists lose their lives, where democracy is threatened, where the power of untruths is growing ever stronger, we in the European Parliament will be those who fight for freedom of expression, who fight for journalism without fear of attack. We are doing nothing less than defending the essential elements of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. Only if they are fully implemented and defended in every Member State, without exception, can we offer the European Union that we promise. We all need it European Media Freedom Act. This law must protect female journalists, from spyware, from surveillance, from attacks. But above all, it must also protect us. Because our free and independent media are the basis of a democratic and free society. Let us think of the beginning of Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine. Let us think of the flood of untruths that has flooded us. Let us remember how urgently we need real reporting from the EU's external borders. Truly independent journalism is rightly called the fourth force, because we need it to defend fundamental rights and democracy, to defend freedom, to defend the core of our European community of values. Let's fight for it!

Madam President, Commissioner, dear Members, ladies and gentlemen! Inclusion is a human right because everyone has the right to be an equal part of society. This is stated in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which also prescribes the implementation of human rights for persons with disabilities in all areas of life. We committed ourselves to this ten years ago, we heard it today, and I say it again: The reality is completely different, and yes, we should be ashamed of that. Because people with disabilities are still often completely self-evident and categorically excluded. Participation is not made possible and the human right of inclusion is repeatedly violated. And there is still no directive prohibiting this discrimination against people with disabilities. And there is still no adequate discussion of the experiences of violence that these people have. People with disabilities are hindered by us as a society. To change that, we need a paradigm shift. We need a different representation. We need other rules. We need other laws. We must ensure self-determination and provide protection against discrimination. People with disabilities must not be dependent on benevolence, on donations. All they need is one thing: respect for human rights. We have to take care of that. And Mrs Pelletier's report, as well as the way in which it was presented, has shown this in the most profound way and deserves the fullest support. Let us all deal with this issue with full energy.

Madam President, Madam Commissioner! Every third woman in the European Union experiences violence in her life. I am one of them, one of 62 million women in the European Union – and we have not yet looked at the rest of the world. The difference is that 62 million women today do not have the opportunity to speak here before this Parliament and to fight for measures against violence against women here at this point. That is why we are aware of this responsibility here today. Violence against women is a structural problem; It is a problem of patriarchy. They are not individual cases, they are not unfortunate circumstances, they are not acts of jealousy or relationship. Do you know how many women are not believed after experiences of violence? How often is it lacking in seriousness, empathy or the legal framework? I am tired of trying to fight violence against women. I'm tired of being paid lip service. Fighting violence against women means creating legal foundations that do not allow for discussion; means recognising the problem in its societal dimension; means standing up against patriarchy and for a feminist Europe – every single day and in every single situation.

Mr President! In the debate on asylum, we rarely talk about what it is really about: people who have experienced terrible things, people who are fleeing war, who are fleeing persecution, who are losing their lives on their way to safety. And not only that this is mostly missing in the debate, but for reasons of populism, these people are then also presented as a threat, are described as illegal, although the human right is clear: Everyone has the right to apply for asylum. Everyone has the right to be examined in accordance with the rule of law. As European legislators, we have the responsibility to create a set of rules in which human rights are respected and respected. And this must not fail because of nation-state petty-spiritedness; This must not fail because of the incitement on the back of the weakest. We can stop dying in the Mediterranean, we can stop pushbacks at the external borders, we can get people out of the misery camps. Let us ensure, through common European solutions, solidarity and humanity, that we, as the European Union, fulfil our commitment! Our message goes to the Council: Don't boycott that!

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, ladies and gentlemen, First of all, I would also like to thank Mrs Evin Incir for this report. The issue of racism and the related discrimination are often illuminated too one-dimensionally in political discourse. Racist violence and discrimination are not individual cases. Nor are they largely harmless, nor must they be instrumentalized and reinterpreted. The real impact of structural and systemic discrimination is a reality, and it is used by right-wing parties as a basis for exclusion and division. We are in a time of upheaval: The aftermath of the coronavirus crisis, the effects of the inhuman war – they cast shadows over the coming years. It is now all the more important that we speak out against any form of exclusion. It is now time to take action at European and national level. Because how seriously we all deal with the European idea of diversity, how seriously we take it, we will have to measure how we as a society deal with it when it is attacked – always and everywhere.