Speeches

Madam President, today China extracts a majority of rare earths and controls almost all the refining. That is why restrictions on exports have an immediate impact on our industry and supply chains. The last EU-China summit in July was an important opportunity to reset our partnership. There, both sides stressed that cooperation and honest dialogue are the only way forward for our trade relations. To uphold that commitment, China must now ensure that any legitimate measures avoid harming Europe's economy. The EU-China dialogue on export controls is a step in the right direction which should bring effective solutions for European companies. But let's be clear, this debate is not only about China; it is about Europe's place in a geopolitical world where access to raw materials is becoming more crucial than ever. This is why the upcoming REsourceEU cannot be just a set of empty words. The Commission needs to present a strategic plan capable of delivering concrete actions to diversify our supply by boosting recycling in Europe and exploring new partnerships with like-minded countries. Only a comprehensive strategy can reduce dependence on raw materials and secure access to key minerals that will power Europe's future.

Mr President, eight days have passed since the peace agreement for Gaza was signed, and yet the Israeli Government has already killed more than 100 Palestinians and injured 80 more. The Israeli Government has not fulfilled fully the agreement from the beginning. We also condemn any breach of the ceasefire by Hamas. The situation is very fragile. We ask the Commission to closely monitor the situation and keep sanctioning the Israeli Government, who must be held accountable for its actions in Gaza and in the West Bank, where many civilians continue to be killed and are subject to the violence of the settlers. We hope that the ceasefire can bring peace and the possibility of establishing the two-state solution with the '67 borders. For that to happen, the Rafah crossing must be opened and humanitarian aid properly delivered. We call for journalists to be allowed into Gaza and conditional support to the vital role of UNRWA. We need to focus now on the day after: reconstruction, a future government elected by the Palestinians – a horizon of hope, peace and security for Palestine and Israel.

Mr President, Madam Commissioner, today marks two years' of the Hamas terrorist attack that took the lives of 1 200 people and condemned the families of 250 hostages to despair. I want to convey our solidarity with the families of the hostages that are with us today. Believe us, we want more than anything for the hostages to be released and for there to be peace and security within a two-state solution for Israel and Palestine. In this already-declared genocide by the United Nations, we are not only seeing the far-right government of Netanyahu killing more than 67 000 Palestinians, but destroying the last resort of democracy in Israel. Israelis are protesting in the streets; the world is protesting to end the suffering and impunity in Gaza. Believe me, we need to end the occupation of Palestine, the occupation in the West Bank. We need to have access for the Palestinians to humanitarian aid. We need a democratic transition in a Palestinian state where Palestinians have an active role. We are not against Israel. We are not against Israel – I repeat this many times – because we are calling and defending the right of Palestinians to have their own state. Peace is not merely the absence of war, it is the presence of justice. Let us avoid double standards, as we have always been reflecting in this Parliament, and fight for what is right. We need the implementation of international law and international humanitarian law, and if we are not on the right side of history, we will regret it all our lives. Every day that passes, many Palestinians are being killed, and we have an uncertainty about the future of each one of the hostages that are still being held by Hamas. So I call here for peace, and for the implementation of an international humanitarian law that brings peace for both states. But we need to be clear and reaffirm and state our position with what is right: justice and security for each one of them; not for one side, but for both.

Madam President, Ms Kallas, thank you for being here – indeed, it's very important that you are here to address the issue of Gaza. Your stance on what is happening Gaza must be more forceful. Just one week ago, during your press conference in Jerusalem, you failed to mention the 50 200 Gazans who have been killed by Israel. You are well aware that every time we have taken the floor in this chamber, we have called for the release of the hostages and unequivocally condemned terrorism. But Israel ended the ceasefire – and this is something we need to talk about. More than 900 civilians, including children, humanitarian workers and journalists, have been killed. 142 000 people have been forcibly displaced in Gaza – 50 000 in the West Bank, because the far-right Israeli government refuses to recognise the two-state solution. And tomorrow, Hungary will host Prime Minister Netanyahu despite the ICC arrest warrant. What are you going to do about this? What are we going to do? Under Article 29 of the Treaty on European Union, you, as High Representative, can propose specific sanctions to the Council. You need to do that – you must propose specific sanctions. Have you seen the violent settlers attacking Palestinians, even film directors? If we do not act swiftly, more children will be killed, more families buried under the rubble. And let us not forget about the hostages in captivity. They have the right to be free.

Madam President, Mrs Kallas, ladies and gentlemen, the European Union is at a geopolitical crossroads that demands strategic clarity. Russia's war of aggression continues to undermine the European order as global rivalry intensifies. Even historic alliances such as the transatlantic are unstable. It is no longer enough to proclaim principles, we must give them political strength and external coherence. In the Middle East, the humanitarian crisis, with the loss of tens of thousands of lives and the destruction of cities in its entirety, demands more than silences or declarations. Our ambiguity has had consequences. We have lost weight in a region that was central to our external action and must be. If we want to recover that voice, we must leave behind the illusion of neutrality between equal parts and the double standards that my colleague Nacho Sánchez Amor commented before. Neutrality in the face of suffering is not balance, it is complicity. We must actively defend respect for the rules-based international order and make decisive use of the instruments already available to the Union, such as making our partnerships conditional on respect for human rights and the rule of law. At the same time we need to weave stronger alliances with Latin America, Africa and Asia and also with some emerging regions such as the Gulf.

Madam President, Commissioner, Gaza needs a permanent ceasefire for both Gazans and Israeli hostages to be released. The Israeli Government's blockade of humanitarian aid to Gaza is a war crime. The suffering of the civilian population should not be a tool of pressure. Babies are dying of cold in Gaza. The European Union must push through phases two and three of the ceasefire or there will be only two possible scenarios left: a new war or Trump's resort plan. There is a silent Israeli occupation strategy that has appropriated 16% of Gaza's agricultural land, as well as in the West Bank and Jerusalem, where the expansion of illegal Israeli settlements, land confiscation and forced displacement have intensified. Border crossings have increased by 228% and entire neighbourhoods are being eliminated. The Palestinians are not to blame for Hamas terrorism, which must be fought firmly. The occupation is consolidated in prime time. Meanwhile, the Israeli far-right government prohibits UNRWA from providing aid to more than 500,000 refugees and asphyxiation, with 80% tax on foreign funding, to NGOs that do not commune with the government, silencing Israeli Democratic citizens. We must continue to talk about peace in Gaza, about the two states and, above all, about compliance with international law.

Madam President, Commissioner, we never thought that we would bring to this Parliament the questioning of an independent tribunal such as the International Criminal Court, whose impartiality guarantees our security and prevents the commission of acts of genocide, violations or any heinous act against human rights. More than ever, we need a European Union that is capable of being the guarantor of the architecture of an international legal system that the signatory States of the Rome Statute endowed themselves with in order not to be vulnerable to abuse. Instances such as the Trust Fund for the Benefit of Victims, for example, support and implement programs to take care of the damages derived from genocide, crimes against humanity, aggression, repair victims and their families, work against jihadist militias and contribute to a long and sustainable peace, promoting restorative justice and reconciliation. We must be consistent with our values and principles, those which are the founding principles of the Union, in whose acquis we have developed our policies. We cannot have double standards: While we have applauded the arrest warrants for African leaders in countries like Sudan or northern Uganda, or even Milosevic or Putin in Russia, we take our hands to the head in some states if it is against Netanyahu. We must protect the International Criminal Court against Trump sanctions, take care of our values, respect the judgments issued by the Court and, above all, what it represents; any day, if not, the system will turn against us.

Madam President, Commissioner Šuica, a few weeks ago we celebrated with hope in this Parliament the ceasefire between Hamas and Israel and the reunion of hostages and prisoners with their families who are suffering, but today this agreement is in danger: There is no guarantee for peace either in Palestine with the occupation, the escalation of violence in the West Bank, the displacement of Palestinians and illegal settlements, or in Israel as long as Hamas continues to detain the hostages. We call the two states and the 1967 borders. And as Gazans returned to their homes these days to rebuild their lives, Trump affirmed his willingness to control Gaza against international humanitarian law because he believes he can buy it all. Even the seriousness of these statements has not been sufficient for a strong response from the Commission: We only see impunity and silence. And in this context, Mrs Kallas committed herself to developing a Middle East strategy based on the reconstruction of Gaza. We do not know the progress and it has not even been included in the 2025 work programme, we are late. What reconstruction does the Commission propose? Can you guarantee it? How will you integrate the key players in the region and this Parliament? We need leadership, accompaniment in democratic processes. What are we going to do with Iran - you have asked yourself several times here today - and with parties or with terrorist forces like Hezbollah and also like Hamas? We need a strategy – our priority is peace – and we certainly need to have more of the High Representative in this Parliament, who should come and give us more explanations: If their strategy is that of silence, they are wrong.

Mr. President, Donald Trump's inauguration marks a turning point in international stability. And while the transatlantic relationship is vital, its early decisions - such as implementing an extreme migration policy or putting Cuba back on the list of countries sponsoring terrorism - have a direct or negative impact on global security. In turn, Elon Musk is acting as a political actor de facto with interventionist strategies in Europe through X, and this requires a resolute response. We have made a proposal from this Parliament with concrete sanctions from the framework of foreign policy. We must make strong use of the tools we have to strengthen our strategic autonomy as the European Union, diversify trade partnerships, forge alliances with like-minded partners and consolidate our global leadership and multilateralism. Defending our values and protecting our interests requires unity, clear vision and determination. We understand that we must have a strategic relationship with the United States, but with a leadership of the European Union on the world stage.

Mr President, for the first time since this legislature began, we are meeting in plenary to celebrate great news. The ceasefire between Hamas and Israel is one of the most anticipated moments for thousands of innocent victims and for the millions of people who have suffered in the past. prime time the devastating consequences of this conflict and international inaction. After 471 days, 110 000 wounded, 46 913 dead, half of them children, the destruction of 65% of the infrastructure and the displacement of 90% of the Gazan population, 1 200 dead and 5 400 wounded Israelis: All this could have been avoided if this same covenant had been accepted months earlier or if we had acted with more determination. Now we need the ceasefire to be effective; I also want to take this opportunity to remember the journalists and aid workers killed doing their job. Yesterday was a great day, it was a very joyful day: We saw the release and reunion of the first three hostages held by Hamas and that of Palestinian prisoners also with their families. Now we need to talk about the future government in Gaza: Reconstruction linked to reparation with Resolution 2735, with the 1967 borders, is very important and we need the Knesset and the United States Congress to also recognize the work and the work of the International Criminal Court. We need a strategy already from the European Union in the Middle East, to focus our efforts on ensuring technical and financial support – including in the Gaza Strip – for its reconstruction. I ask you to remain united, ladies and gentlemen, to bear in mind that we are experiencing a historic moment of transformation in the region. We must continue to look with hope, to have inclusive democratic governments like in Syria or a new government in Lebanon, without Hezbollah's tyrannical rule and with citizenship. Finally, I ask that we all be empathetic. We need to work together, to lay hands to get two states to live in peace and prosperity on both sides and, for that, we must be together.

Madam President, sexual violence as a weapon of war is one of the most egregious and silenced faces of conflict. These are not isolated acts of uncontrolled soldiers, but a deliberate tactic that deconstructs individuals, families and entire communities. It is a violence that subdues, terrorizes and displaces, leaving physical, psychological and social consequences that last for generations. In Sudan, Rapid Support Forces fighters have committed gang rape and sexual slavery against dozens of women and girls. There are regions where women have been raped in the presence of their families and even kidnapped and subjected to months of abuse on military bases. These atrocities constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, sexual violence reaches harrowing levels. Tens of thousands of women are raped every year. Combatants use this brutality to sow terror and tear apart the social fabric, leaving entire communities traumatized, silenced and divided. Given this, we must be clear: We must end the wars that enable these atrocities, as well as ensure justice and reparation for the victims, ending impunity. That is why directorates-general are as important as those of victims before the International Criminal Court. Above all, no more wars, no more impunity and no more silence.

Mr President, we are witnessing a historic event: the cruel dictatorship of the Assads, especially now of Bashar al-Assad, who has suppressed Syrians for 54 years, has come to an end. Bashar al-Assad's autocracy has left irreparable pain in thousands of tortured, isolated, fled and abused people, whose only crime was to believe that a different Syria was possible. The expression of hundreds of people released from prisons must be the intolerable memory for any country in the world: Syria deserves to see the birth of the flowers that were sown during the Arab Spring and that were oppressed. We are facing the first resolution on the region since the beginning of this legislature and I ask you, ladies and gentlemen, to live up to this process: I ask you for unity, responsibility and accuracy in data and facts. We must vindicate the territorial integrity of Syria: Israel's occupation of the Golan Heights is again a violation of international law that jeopardizes the situation in the region, but we understand that they will withdraw later, which is a matter of security, and we believe that when there is stability everything will improve. We must vindicate the voice and role of the Syrian people in this transition and their right to decide: their independence must be respected in order to achieve a democratic system that will take time. We must claim the dignified life of people from empathy, and not from the express decrees for asylum applications that have been made in some European countries, because this is a bad message. I want to claim that it is fair to remember that repression did not distinguish between ethnic groups, minorities or religions, so we must protect minorities, majorities and women, a very important issue. This Parliament must not be selective and we must not make invisible a large part of the opposition, which are also secular forces: Not everyone is a radical Islamist, and you have to know how the opposition works. We hope that there will be an inclusive Government, which is the most important thing, and that it will also include women. We have a unique opportunity for the change of the nation: Kaja Kallas is making many diplomatic moves that are positive for the role that the European Parliament and the European Union should play in the Middle East.

Mr President, we have to call for a ceasefire in Lebanon and Gaza, for humanitarian aid to reach families in northern Gaza. We have always condemned the terrorist attacks of Hamas on 7 October. We demand the release of all hostages with no conditions. Families are suffering and Netanyahu is not bringing them back home. We need an arms embargo that will avoid more deaths. We need the terrorists of Hezbollah to surrender arms and to reinforce the Lebanese Government and Lebanese institutions. We need to support the ICC decisions: we support them for Putin, so we need to support their decisions for Netanyahu, who is responsible for the killings of thousands of civilians. We need to maintain the international law system. We need peace. People in the Middle East have the right to live. The lives of Jews and Arabs are worth the same. They are brothers and sisters. Ceasefire now!

Mr. President, last November 7th we saw how football, a sport capable of uniting people from all over the world, was once again a scene of confrontation and violence in all its forms. The party stands and streets of Amsterdam became a space for unjustified hatred. We must reject, clearly and forcefully, the attitude of the ultras of the Maccabi of Tel Aviv, the boycott of the minute of silence to the victims of the DANA in Valencia during the party, the cries against Arabs and Muslims, the attacks against taxi drivers, Palestinian flags in homes or the vainglory for the murder of thousands of children in Gaza. Es intolerable. In the same way, we cannot, and we must, wholeheartedly condemn the violence against Israeli citizens who had to be rescued. We cannot allow justice to be taken by organized violent groups. We will not acquiesce to anti-Semitic attitudes and riots in the streets that endure to this day. Under no circumstances should violence be allowed or excused. Violence and anti-Semitism are intolerable and unacceptable. There is no place for such attitudes in Europe. Sport must be a space for reconciliation. What needs to be done is to promote peace between Israelis and Palestinians.

Madam President, the Netanyahu government has killed more than 600 people in Lebanon, in addition to the 42,000 killed in Gaza and the West Bank. The situation is very serious. Israel has bombed the capital of a sovereign state and launched a ground military invasion. We need to strengthen Resolution 1701 in Lebanon. The Lebanese are very, very unhappy with Hezbollah's Islamist movement, but it is no excuse for killing civilians. The war already involves six Middle Eastern countries and Israel remains unpunished. Right now, as the High Representative said, 20% of the Lebanese population is displaced. Forced displacement is considered a war crime. Imagine for a moment that this same situation was happening anywhere else in the world: That the 1.9 million displaced were on eleven occasions European, that the Israeli attacks were against Germany's largest hospital, that Paris was being bombed, that the villages of southern Italy had been sprayed with white phosphorus or that far-right ministers used religion to justify the occupation of their neighborhood houses. Would you still be quiet? And please stop saying this is all against Jews. We love them and we respect them. It's like saying we are all against Muslims because Netanyahu has killed almost 42,000. Come on. We need joint action by the European Union right now. Inaction has exposed us to the world and we suffer international discredit for defending that only some deserve to live in peace. We want peace for Lebanese, Israelis and Palestinians: a ceasefire. And don't be fooled...

Madam President, High Representative, thank you for your intervention. Today marks one year since the Hamas terrorist attack, which took the lives of 1,200 people in Israel and captured hundreds of hostages. We condemned him a year ago, we condemned him today and we will condemn him tomorrow. The hostages must return home unconditionally. We're with the families. However, today is also the year of the terrible offensive by the Government of Israel, which has killed 42,000 people and killed 186,000 people by starvation and disease. To those who are watching us, who will be wondering what the European Union is doing, I would like to say that the right and the extreme right in this Parliament have agreed to remove the word 'Gaza' from the debates on the war. So much so that we have had to ask ourselves for a minute of silence for all the victims. We must talk about the war crimes in Palestine, the children and journalists killed and maimed, the forced displacements, the reprehensible conduct of soldiers, the attack on sovereign countries such as Lebanon. No Lebanese agrees with Hezbollah, nor with its attacks, nor with its intervention in the Syrian war. But now hundreds of civilians are being killed in Lebanon. We don't need double standards; We need a ceasefire. We need absolute respect for international law that protects us all, including you. We need a two-state solution and an end to occupation. We will continue to denounce the humanitarian tragedy. We will keep saying, 'Bring them back home'. Selective empathy must be abandoned. The world is waiting for a unanimous response from us. And, if we do not stop this with diplomacy and with a viable peace proposal, the children of indignation will react and not necessarily in a positive way. Remember that ISIS was born after the invasion of Iraq.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, I address you with a concern that challenges us all as human rights defenders that we should be: The recent law on promoting virtue and preventing vice in Afghanistan is a brutal new blow against the most fundamental freedoms of Afghan women and girls. This legislation imposes severe restrictions on their mobility, clothing, presence in public life... and also perpetuates patriarchy and the system of control and violence that relegates them to the shadows and erases their voice. This law denies human dignity to half the population in Afghanistan. Since coming to power in 2021, the Taliban regime has systematically violated women's rights in contravention of international and human rights standards. This law again attacks the principles further promoted by the Istanbul Convention, in which we committed to preventing and combating violence against women and girls. We cannot remain on the sidelines ignoring this suffering. Our inaction is condemning millions of people to a life of oppression. The European Union cannot afford to be a mere observer, and so far the response has not been sufficient. Create a strategy with other influential actors in the region; promote that the embassies and consulates of the Member States of the European Union can handle asylum applications for Afghan women; increase funding and support for Afghan and international civil society organisations on the ground; support the international efforts being made to consider the codification of the apartheid gender as a crime against humanity; create safe and accessible digital tools that give women the possibility to connect, foster education and find emotional refuge; Let's support Afghan activists in exile. And for those who want to feed the hate narrative and incentivize Islamophobia: The problem here is not religion, but those who manipulate it to justify their control and power over women. Debates in Parliament on urgent cases were created to defend human rights, and those of Afghan women are violated on a daily basis: Let us not forget that women's rights are human rights. The European Union must be a determined actor and not a passive actor. I would also like to make one final reference to what MEP Isabel Serra Sánchez said earlier: Interventionism never solved anything, but made it worse.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, I am appearing for the first time in plenary, in this House, and I want to do so on behalf of all those people who do not have the opportunity to speak out in this rostrum. In October, we condemned Hamas's shocking terrorist attack in Israel. To this day, we continue to do so and call for the release of the hostages. We stand with the Israeli families who are suffering, but today I would like to ask for the same unanimous condemnation of the disproportionate response and violation of international humanitarian law in Palestine by the Government of Israel. More than 41,000 killed, 94,000 injured and 10,000 missing, most of them children and women. Right now, nine out of ten people are displaced in the Gaza Strip. Forced displacement is considered a war crime. The killing of civilians, journalists and humanitarian personnel has not stopped. We have normalized attacks on schools and even seen how the death toll was counted through the weight of human remains found in the rubble. How much does indifference weigh? This Parliament – the largest in the world – must be committed to rights and freedoms and has a duty to defend peace. Otherwise he would be lacking himself and his citizenship, setting an irreversible precedent. In other cases, we do not hesitate to condemn other leaders, but we are not able to do so with Netanyahu. The double measuring rod is not understood. War crimes, the blockade of humanitarian aid, human rights violations and the rise of hate speech must not be allowed. We must denounce the occupation of the Palestinian territories and illegal settlements, contrary to the resolutions of the United Nations Security Council. We must recognize the Palestinian State within the framework of the two-State solution. We must not stigmatize United Nations agencies. We must review the EU-Israel Association Agreement. And not: It is not anti-Semitism to denounce what is happening in Palestine. If it were, we would be committing it against the Palestinians as well, since they are Semites, like the Israelis. We call for a ceasefire as hundreds of thousands of people around the world and in Israel do. Palestine is not a contested territory, as was said before; it is an occupied land. Or are you going to say against also the resolutions of the United Nations? Come on, who's going to respect us like this?