What Sakis spoke about.

13

Mar

2025

EL Speech

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A Vision for Agriculture and Food (debate)

Mr President, Commissioner, agriculture cannot be a sector that simply survives. It must prosper, support local communities and guarantee Europe's food security. To achieve this, however, the big words we have heard in recent years are not enough. Fair prices, decent wages and a framework of fair competition are needed. Today our farmers – we all know this – are forced to sell below production cos…

23

Jan

2025

EL Speech

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Combating Desertification: 16th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP16) of the United Nations Convention (debate)

Mr President, our Earth, a source of life for centuries, is in danger of becoming a source of extinction. We must prevent the conversion of fertile areas into deserted landscapes. When the soil is destroyed, the future of humanity is at stake. Life cannot thrive on scorched earth. The European Union is called upon to take the lead by proclaiming the need for rational management of natural resource…

20

Jan

2025

EL Speech

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Heat record year 2024 - the need for climate action to fight global warming (debate)

Κύριε Πρόεδρε, ποτέ δεν κατάλαβα γιατί τα ακροδεξιά κόμματα δεν θα ήθελαν να ζήσουν σε ένα πιο καθαρό περιβάλλον. That's still a big question for me. The green transition is not a challenge. It is a great opportunity to create a fair, resilient and sustainable Europe. Its success depends on our commitment to support citizens at the heart of change. If we lose their trust, our efforts will be in va…

25

Nov

2024

EL Speech

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Outcome of the UN Biodiversity Conference 2024 in Cali, Colombia (COP16) (debate)

Madam President, the 16th Conference on Biodiversity in Colombia was a crucial milestone in protecting our natural world. Despite important agreements – such as the creation of the ‘Cali Fund’ – the failure to reach an agreement on crucial funding for nature protection remains worrying. Recently, the Hellenic Ornithological Society informed us about the disappearance of the riparian bird Leptomyta…

23

Oct

2024

EL Speech

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The important role of cities and regions in the EU – for a green, social and prosperous local development (debate)

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, at a time when we need to be close to the citizens more than ever, ideas are being discussed which do the opposite, ignoring local and regional self-government, the people who know the problems and needs of the citizens more than anyone. The leak of the Commission document proposing to merge the largest financial programmes of the European Union, the Common Agri…

9

Oct

2024

EL Speech

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Ensuring sustainable, decent and affordable housing in Europe - encouraging investment, private property and public housing programmes (debate)

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, I too must repeat what has been said many times today. The fact that the right to decent, sustainable and affordable housing is a basic right for every European citizen. However, the housing crisis is worsening, particularly affecting young people, but of course also the most vulnerable groups. In Greece, I must tell you that the problem is huge, as the inabilit…

7

Oct

2024

EL Speech

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The extreme wildfires in Southern Europe, in particular Portugal and Greece and the need for further EU climate action on adaptation and mitigation (debate)

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, the devastating fires in Greece and Portugal are a stark reminder of the increasing intensity and frequency of climate disasters. Unfortunately, once again our countries found themselves unprepared. In Greece, the case of Corinth is a tragic example of the failure of government mechanisms. The absence of preventive measures, such as proper forest management, …

19

Sep

2024

EL Speech

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Droughts and extreme weather events as a threat to local communities and EU agriculture in times of climate change (debate)

Mr President, I have generally listened to the speeches since this morning, and I have heard that the European Union and the European Parliament are creating panic when it comes to preventing extreme weather events. This is not a panic. In fact, I will emphasize the word "prevention." My 25-year experience in forecasting and presenting weather on Greek public television has shown that climate chan…

18

Sep

2024

EL Speech

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EU response to the Mpox outbreak and the need for continuous action (debate)

Mr President, Commissioner, thank you very much indeed for your work over the years. The spread of monkeypox reminds us that these crises know no borders and the well-being of our citizens is intertwined with our ability to respond in a timely and coordinated manner. In this context, I would like to highlight four main axes on which we should focus. Firstly, coordination and cooperation between Me…

18

Sep

2024

EL Answer

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The devastating floods in Central and Eastern Europe, the loss of lives and the EU’s preparedness to act on such disasters exacerbated by climate change (debate)

One is serious as you put it, but the other is that God has given us the mind – the God of any religion – so that we can deal with situations with our own minds, rather than letting things go like this and take turns that destroy man himself.…

18

Sep

2024

EL Speech

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The devastating floods in Central and Eastern Europe, the loss of lives and the EU’s preparedness to act on such disasters exacerbated by climate change (debate)

Mr President, first of all I would like to express my sincere condolences to those affected. Indeed, the time has come for which scientists have warned us since the 1970s and 1980s. We are no longer talking about the "floods and fires of the century", but about the "century of floods and fires". We experienced it in Greece last year and this year as well. The European Union cannot stand by in the …

16

Sep

2024

EL Speech

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Outcome of the Strategic Dialogue on the Future of EU Agriculture (debate)

Mr President, Commissioner, we are at a very critical juncture for Europe's agricultural sector. Our farmers and stockbreeders are literally on the edge of the cliff. The continued rise in raw material, energy and feed prices has created a stifling environment, while climate change is exacerbating the situation with extreme weather events that are destroying – we see – crops and threatening the su…