What Mélissa spoke about.

14 Sep

2026

FR Speech

Government crackdown on the LGBTIQ+ Community in Türkiye: Türkiye’s compliance with its international commitments on non-discrimination (debate)

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Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, in Turkey, human rights defenders are being arrested, their homes searched and their organisations criminalised for one reason only: They stand up for LGBTQIA+ people. It's not just an attack on a community. It is an authoritarian offensive against all civil society, against those who refuse to be silent, against those who refuse to bow their heads. From this…

16 Jun

2026

FR Speech

Common system for the return of third-country nationals staying illegally in the Union (Return Regulation) (debate)

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20 May

2026

FR Speech

Situation of women and girls in Afghanistan following the Taliban's adoption of the Criminal Procedure Code for Courts

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Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, in September 2024, this House, by a very large majority and with votes from all political families, adopted a resolution denouncing gender apartheid imposed by the Taliban regime. In the same resolution, we condemned the governments that are helping to normalize their relations with the Taliban. And for good reason: we have always been outraged by the crimes …

27 Apr

2026

FR Speech

Importance of consent-based rape legislation in the EU (debate)

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Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, only a yes is a yes. It is urgent that our countries finally get out of the rape culture, the one that pushes us to change sidewalks at night, the one where men give themselves online advice to drug and rape their partners, the one that teaches us fear from childhood. In my country, France, every year 94,000 women are victims of rape or attempte…

25 Mar

2026

FR Speech

Order of business

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Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, allow me to make a point of order on the basis of Rule 202. What are we talking about tomorrow? Possible bans on entry for life without serious legal grounds, return centres, genuine lawless zones outside the European Union, cooperation with the Taliban regime or the detention of children. We were shocked by the photo of little Liam in th…

12 Feb

2026

FR Speech

Recommendation to the Council on EU priorities for the 70th session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (debate)

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11 Feb

2026

FR Speech

Rule of law, fundamental rights and misuse of EU funds in Slovakia: the need for an EU response (debate)

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Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, the European Union, in accordance with our Treaties, is built on values: Freedom, equality, dignity. Today, these values are flickering, threatened by the extreme right and the conservatives, who are just waiting to weaken them. When a government enshrines discrimination against LGBTQIA+ people in its constitution, when it restricts access to ed…

21 Jan

2026

FR Speech

Restoring control of migration: returns, visa policy and third-country cooperation (topical debate)

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Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, today we are again having a debate on immigration. When it is not the far right, it is the EPP that initiates this debate. Hateful of the calendar, you allow extreme right-wingers to express their hatred of each other in the aftermath of the European Commission’s presentation of its anti-racism strategy. Great performance! For months, the rhetoric has been the s…

20 Jan

2026

FR Speech

Brutal repression against protesters in Iran (debate)

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Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, at the moment in Iran a revolution is being suppressed in blood. The few images that reach us are appalling. Dead bodies piled up at the gates of morgues, wounded by the thousands, abominable scenes. These crimes are not new. The repression of the mullahs has been systemic since 1979. We have not forgotten the Women, Life, Freedom movement in 2022, 2019, or 2009…

16 Dec

2025

FR Speech

European Citizens’ Initiative ‘My voice, my choice: for safe and accessible abortion’ (debate)

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12 Nov

2025

FR Speech

The first European Annual Asylum and Migration report and the setting up of the Annual Solidarity Pool (debate)

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Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, Commissioner, when the Pact was adopted, we were already concerned about the lack of solidarity, the weakness of fundamental rights guarantees and the risk that they would remain a dead letter. The first elements of the annual report, as we can guess, on the Solidarity Reserve confirm this: Most Member States are classified as ‘under migratory pressure’ and t…

10 Sep

2025

FR Speech

After 10 years, time to end mass migration now - protect our women and children (topical debate)

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Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, protecting women and children? Yes, from the far right. In Poland, restrictions on the right to abortion by the far right have plunged thousands of women into distress. Some died because they were refused an abortion, even when their lives were in danger. In Viktor Orbán's Hungary, maternal mortality reaches 12-15 deaths per 100,000 births. This is twice as h…

9 Jul

2025

FR Speech

Alleged misuse of EU funds by Members of the far-right and measures to ensure institutional integrity (debate)

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Mr President, EUR 2.9 million – EUR 2.9 million! – this is the total amount of the damage assessed by the Paris Criminal Court at first instance. This 2.9 million is what you, the RN, have embezzled from the European Parliament, it is what you have embezzled from the taxpayer – more than two thousand months of SMIC! The fraudulent use of public money is not your fantasies about NGOs and their indi…

9 Jul

2025

FR Speech

Lessons from Budapest Pride: the urgent need for an EU wide anti-discrimination law and defending fundamental rights against right-wing attacks (topical debate)

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Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, during the last debate on the pride In Budapest, I was insulted in this Chamber by a far-right colleague, who asked me if I intended to come to this Parliament on a muzzle and a leash. Since this remark seemed to shock only a few people, let us make it clear: His words were LGBT-phobic, racist, sexist and unworthy of this assembly. We cannot and should not tr…

18 Jun

2025

FR Answer

Freedom of assembly in Hungary and the need for the Commission to act (debate)

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The French translation was incomprehensible, but I think that in fact what you meant was incomprehensible and deeply insulting. So it is better that there are small translation defects sometimes.

18 Jun

2025

FR Speech

Freedom of assembly in Hungary and the need for the Commission to act (debate)

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Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, Commissioner, Pride Budapest was banned. But in the face of this desire for censorship, civil society and the green municipality have shown courage and resilience in the face of arbitrariness. I will remember my first Pride all my life. Understand that I am not alone, that everything will be fine, feel this pride, this militant joy. All queer young people must b…

18 Jun

2025

FR Question

Freedom of assembly in Hungary and the need for the Commission to act (debate)

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You talk about protecting children, you see LGBT people as a threat to children in the European Union? Second question on the protection of children: Today, there are 2 million children who end up with one of their parents who is not recognized. For example, if I move tomorrow, I can lose all my rights to my daughter. Do you think it's protecting children to leave children like that, from homopare…

17 Jun

2025

FR Speech

European Ocean Pact (debate)

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Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, Commissioner, without healthy oceans, humanity is at risk. The European Commission's announcement of an ocean pact is a positive signal. But there's an emergency. Yes, the oceans suffocate: plastic, pollution, overfishing, disappearance of artisanal fishing, the time is no longer for promises but for concrete action. Today, this pact is a declaration of inten…

6 May

2025

FR Speech

2023 and 2024 reports on Türkiye (debate)

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Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, Commissioner, what is currently happening in Turkey is serious. The arrest of the mayor of Istanbul, the repression of the May 1 demonstrations, the mass arrests, all testify to a worrying authoritarian drift. Yet despite the fear, despite the violence, Turkish society continues to stand. I am thinking of these students, these students, these women, these trade …

2 Apr

2025

FR Answer

Recent legislative changes in Hungary and their impact on fundamental rights (debate)

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Excuse me, but that was supposed to be a question, wasn't it? I don't know, what's the question?

2 Apr

2025

FR Speech

Recent legislative changes in Hungary and their impact on fundamental rights (debate)

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Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, it is with seriousness that I am addressing you today to defend one of the fundamental values of the European Union: equality between all human beings. Once again, Viktor Orbán and the far right have decided to ignore this value by deciding to ban the Pride march in Budapest next June. It is the entire LGBT community, but also all people who are victims of di…

1 Apr

2025

FR Speech

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

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Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, mayors in prison, a population on the streets and a regime that responds with repression. Since the arrest of its mayor, the city of Istanbul has risen, and with it the whole country. Thousands of young people take to the streets, shouting a simple but powerful word: ‘Justice!’ They ask for nothing but respect for the vote, democracy, the right …

11 Mar

2025

FR Speech

Roadmap for Women`s Rights (debate)

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Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, do you know this face? This is Justyna. I met her two weeks ago in Poland. Why show your face today? Because, like many women around the world, Justyna shows extraordinary courage to protect women’s human rights. She is an outstanding abortion rights activist, convicted in 2023 for helping a woman to have an abortion in her country. In Poland, it i…

12 Feb

2025

FR Speech

Recent dismissals and arrests of mayors in Türkiye

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Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, democracy in Turkey is being trampled on. Since 2016, 149 elected mayors have been removed and replaced by government-appointed administrators. In 2024 alone, ten new mayors suffered the same fate, accused without foundation of terrorism, because in Turkey being elected does not guarantee being able to govern. I came back from Istanbul, where I met women and men…

23 Jan

2025

FR Speech

Major interpellations (debate)

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Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, barriers, barbed wire, divisions. This is the obsession of part of the European political class. Wherever states have erected walls, they have sown only suffering and despair. Today, about sixty walls dot the globe with concrete scars. Over the past twenty years, physical barriers have multiplied at the borders of the European Union, in Hungary, Sp…