What Nikos spoke about.

1

Apr

2025

EN Speech

Watch

Crackdown on democracy in Türkiye and the arrest of Ekrem İmamoğlu (debate)

Madam President, Commissioner, it's a bit funny, but we want Türkiye to be in the EU. We in Greece. But not this Türkiye, not the Türkiye that puts in jail the mayor, that puts in jail Kavala, that puts in jail Demirtas for 42 years just because he's Kurdish. And yesterday, as was mentioned, the Swedish journalist was arrested for terrorism – Medin. We do have a weapon – and that's the weapons, ac…

31

Mar

2025

EN Speech

Watch

European Cultural Compass as a driving force for economic competitiveness and resilience (debate)

Mr President, Commissioner, thank you very much for bringing us into this discussion at an early stage so we can form the cultural compass together. In the last term, there was something called the Commissioner for European Way of Life. And when I first heard that, I actually smiled. But now I think it's more important than ever. And the European way of life includes… and I have to mention a few p…

31

Mar

2025

EN Speech

Watch

Savings and Investments Union (debate)

Mr President, Commissioner, I'll divide this discussion of one minute into two parts. The first is what we can do here as a Commissioner, and that is the things we heard already. We all support the savings and investment union, financial literacy, completing Basel III and a more level taxation field. And that's something that we can do with your help. However, there's something that we have to do …

12

Mar

2025

EN Speech

Watch

Severe political, humanitarian and human rights crisis in Sudan, in particular the sexual violence and child rape

Mr President, Commissioner, it's four months and we've spoken about Sudan three times. We haven't changed much. The previous speaker said something I agree with: setting up an 'EUAID', but that will take time. It won't happen tomorrow. We need, of course, to come in with humanitarian support. Tomorrow's vote, though, does have some concrete proposals to send peacekeeping forces right away to prote…

12

Mar

2025

EN Speech

Watch

European Semester (joint debate)

Mr President, Commissioner, this report is supposed to help us to coordinate for our future and to look at what we've done in the past, and it has some things that are worth pointing out. It talks about a financial instrument for private sector competition, coordinated defence spending and even the Green Deal, which upsets this side of the aisle. However, it also assumes that the Recovery and Resi…

11

Mar

2025

EN Speech

Watch

Presentation of the proposal on Critical Medicines Act (CMA) (debate)

Madam President, Commissioner, the Critical Medicines Act is our answer to shortages and supplies and less dependence on China and India. Very simple to say that. What medicines are we talking about? Basic ones like penicillin, amoxicillin, but even infusions for chemotherapy. The task will not be easy. We have many instruments at our disposal. We have the new pharma legislation. We have our effor…

12

Feb

2025

EN Speech

Watch

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

Mr President, Commissioner, I agree with most of what you said – almost everything – and what I've heard today, except for the idea that EU policies bring depression and suicide. That I disagree with. If we knew the answers to why people get depressed, we would have solved it a long time ago. Education? Sports, for sure. Culture, for sure. I would like to add one more practical element, which mayb…

12

Feb

2025

EL Speech

Watch

Recent dismissals and arrests of mayors in Türkiye

Mr President, the reason for today's debate is again Erdoğan, who imprisoned the mayors, especially in the Kurdish areas at the beginning of November. And three more the other day. Turkey is on the wrong path. We all say it in here. But we have to give him messages. First of all, let's call for the release of the mayors. Secondly, sanctions on all appointed mayors and the people who put them there…

11

Feb

2025

EN Speech

Watch

Political crisis in Serbia (debate)

Madam President, President Szłapka, Commissioner Kos, let's see where we are now. We had two very good statements from the President and the Commissioner, but we went one step more. I would say most of us here are giving a message to the Serbians. The message is: 'We're listening to you. We are listening to your demand for accountability. We are listening to your calls of corruption.' And that the…

23

Jan

2025

EN Answer

Watch

Cryptocurrencies - need for global standards (debate)

If I understood the question, we have two ways of using crypto: one is companies which invest, and the other is individual purchases. Those are two separate entities. The companies that use crypto to invest need to be regulated. The individual using it for purchases is not a legal entity and comes under different rules, if I understood you properly.…

23

Jan

2025

EN Speech

Watch

Cryptocurrencies - need for global standards (debate)

Madam President, Commissioner, from this discussion I think the answer is staring us in the face. We have two distinct philosophies, one on one side of the Atlantic and one on the other side. The US is a free market, let it bloom, let's have the $TRUMP coin and then we regulate. Ours is let's regulate and see what happens. What's happening now is, besides the criminal activities with crypto, it's …

21

Jan

2025

EN Speech

Watch

Humanitarian crisis in Sudan (debate)

Mr President, Commissioner, after years of conflict, Sudan suffers from what we must call the world's worst humanitarian disaster. We have spoken about the massacres and rapes, famine, cholera and malaria. Half the population is in dire need of aid. Dear Commissioner, you are right to say that the EU has done a lot – over EUR 200 million – and you also said we need to do more. Let me be a little p…

21

Jan

2025

EN Speech

Watch

Situation in Venezuela following the usurpation of the presidency on 10 January 2025 (debate)

Mr President, Commissioner Kubilius, who better than you to support the Venezuelan people in their struggle against oppression? We heard many things here today, and I personally don't care if Maduro came from the working class and was a trade unionist. Today he's a dictator. I don't care if the dictator is communist or from the landed aristocracy. I care that there's torture in that country, and t…

17

Dec

2024

EN Speech

Watch

Use of rape as weapon of war, in particular in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Sudan (debate)

Madam President, in the Congo and Sudan, men are drunk and evil. They live in a world of savagery. They themselves have been destroyed even as they destroy the women, the men and the children. Every woman raped is an assault on our soul. We do have programmes for aid. We do have support for women. We have made endless efforts for peace. We have imposed sanctions on warlords. And yet I myself am at…

27

Nov

2024

EN Speech

Watch

The arrest of the Franco-Algerian writer Boualem Sansal and the call for his immediate and unconditional release, and the repression of freedom of speech in Algeria (debate)

Mr President, we have here a country that has all the possibilities of being a European country: a very high education/literacy rate, a powerful industry based on energy, very close to France – but I would say a schizophrenic relationship with France. In the daytime it's the revolution, at night it's quoting Anatole France. So that relationship we have to exploit, we have to make sure that, given …

27

Nov

2024

EN Speech

Watch

Promoting a favourable framework for venture capital financing and safe foreign direct investments in the EU (debate)

Madam President, with my turn, I would like to thank the Commissioner for her good work. I've only been here a year, but it's been great to hear you. I'd like to comment on what my colleague from Berlin just said – I think you were from Volt, I forget which party you are in now – the capital markets union will be difficult unless we break the backs – that sounds a little bit radical – of the banks…

23

Oct

2024

EN Speech

Watch

U-turn on EU bureaucracy: the need to axe unnecessary burdens and reporting to unleash competitiveness and innovation (topical debate)

Mr President, Madam Commissioner, I won't be political, I think I'll be boringly practical. You ask for recommendations – I'm an economist. 'It's a little bit crazy', someone said earlier, I don't know which party. We come here from 20 different professions, some mayors, some taxi drivers, basketball players. And the next day we're passing laws. I would like some training on that, if you want a ve…

22

Oct

2024

EN Speech

Watch

Situation in Tunisia (debate)

Mr President, colleagues, I understand our good Commissioner's balanced approach – highly diplomatic. I'd like to stress, however, the problem of democracy. Tunisia, for many of us, was the birthplace of the Arab Spring, and I think we have to be a little bit tougher. I understand Mr Millán Mon's approach with trade – that's one policy. We need to use that trade to push Tunisia, because these elec…

9

Oct

2024

EL Speech

Watch

The case of Bülent Mumay in Türkiye

Madam President, Mr Erdogan, Mr Erdogan! Again you bring us here for the rule of law and the attempt to silence the free press. This time you put another man in jail, Bulent Mumay, who had the audacity to talk about corruption in his articles. Not only him, we have Ishmael Ari, Timur Soikan and Ishmael Shaimaz. You keep going down this road. On the other hand, you want to join the European Union. …

17

Sep

2024

EN Speech

Watch

Situation in Venezuela (debate)

Madam President, Members, I won't repeat what we've heard about the hunger and the immigrants leaving Venezuela. Some people think it's nice to live there. Maybe they haven't visited. I would say what we heard tonight overwhelmingly supports the return of democracy to Venezuela. There's also evidence about who won, and we know who that is. There is a window of opportunity right now for us to exerc…

12

Mar

2024

EN Speech

Watch

Need to impose sanctions on the import of Russian and Belarusian food and agricultural products to the EU and to ensure stability of EU agricultural production (debate)

– Mr President, Madam Commissioner, there are two arguments that we have here: one is the purely economic argument about the financial consequences of Russia dumping on the European market. That is one reason we want the embargo, because we want to stop financing the machine in the Kremlin. The other argument, which I fully support, is value—based. Let’s drop the economic argument. Are we going to…

28

Feb

2024

EN Speech

Watch

Strengthening European Defence in a volatile geopolitical landscape - Implementation of the common foreign and security policy – annual report 2023 - Implementation of the common security and defence policy – annual report 2023 (joint debate - European security and defence)

Madam President, colleagues, I hear the calls for peace from one of the colleagues and for negotiations. But the people we’re talking about do not listen to negotiations. And perhaps if we are a third-world country, it’s because we do not have a strong defence policy. Something happened recently and that is called Ukraine. Did we shake our paralysis? Did we wake up for a new voice? Are we changing…

7

Feb

2024

EN Speech

Watch

This is Europe - Debate with the President of Romania, Klaus Iohannis (debate)

Madam President, I would like to thank the Romanian President for his presentation today. Our two countries have similar histories, not just in Christian orthodoxy, but we had dictatorships – you had a totalitarian country run by the Kremlin, we had a dictatorship run by the Pentagon. Today we see clouds gathering over Europe. We have the European elections. I would like your wisdom and your exper…

17

Jan

2024

EL Speech

Watch

Rule of Law and media freedom in Greece (debate)

Madam President, some say that the Greek people have forgiven the government for bringing it back to power in the last election. Oh, that's wrong. Victory in elections does not absolve any government of such sins. The Greek people do not forget. We never understood why the President of PASOK and then MEP Nikos Androulakis, along with many others, were being watched. At the end of September there w…

17

Jan

2024

EL Speech

Watch

Conclusions of the European Council meeting of 14-15 December 2023 and preparation of the Special European Council meeting of 1 February 2024 - Situation in Hungary and frozen EU funds (joint debate - European Council meetings)

Mr President, we want the Belgian Presidency to continue on the same path as the admittedly successful Presidency of Pedro Sánchez, with climate change, economic recovery and enlargement as priorities. In relation to climate change, the European Union must act swiftly. My country, especially the region of Thessaly, was also affected by this martyrdom last year. Preventive measures on the one hand,…