Speeches

Mr President, in these very hours in Gaza, dozens of people are hanging between hope and despair, both Israeli and Palestinian. It is our duty for us – all of us, beyond the ideology – as MEPs and as human beings, to help this short truce to become a real peace. Allow me to appeal to our High Representative: Ms Kallas, Europe on the issue of the Middle East has been passionate but distant. Our effort to build peace has been almost non-existent. This is the time to make amends. Let's start with the humanitarian project, Ms Kallas, a project large, generous that will define your entire mandate. I believe that this Parliament has the intelligence, the passion and the means to help two populations to survive with the right effort.

Mr President, I'm just returning from the mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina, so I think I can give, first, a little testimony. Some 3.4 million people went to vote on Sunday in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It was a very competitive and very delicate vote for a country that is composed not of three peoples, but of three different ethnic ethnicities: the Serbs, the Croats and the Bosniaks. It was the Friday afternoon when all of a sudden we were hit by the news that there was a major flood that indeed had provoked 19 victims. It was around Mostar. For a moment, everybody freaked out – like we have to cancel the elections, with the rest of the election being valid. 48 hours later, happily the situation had been, in a way, brought under control. There were five municipalities that were postponed, but the situation was saved. It was saved also because – and we were happy to see it, and we were proud to see it – the European Parliament immediately activated the Copernicus Services and the EU Civil Protection Mechanism. You could see the EU rescue team in the country helping, with updated maps, with pumps, generators, excavators and more. It was frankly a good moment for Europe. We were proud to be there as Europe. It was a decisive wave not only for humanitarian things, but because I think it shows that, in a very delicate political moment, the EU could help; the EU was there, standing by Bosnia and Herzegovina. A few words about what we were doing there. We were there as part of the OSCE/ODIHR International Election Observation Mission, and the Conference of Presidents of the European Parliament had given us the mandate to observe those local elections. As you may know or may not, normally the observer missions of this Parliament do not observe local elections. In this case, though, we went because the geography, the complex social geography, was important, but mainly it was a mission as a strong sign of the European commitment to this area, to Bosnia and Herzegovina. I just would like to remind you that, on 21 March, the European Council decided to green‑light the start of accession negotiations with Bosnia and Herzegovina once all the relevant state steps set out in the Commission recommendation of October 2022 are taken. So the flood drama decision helped! This was a good chain of events.

Madam President, Israel has the right to defend itself, of course. However, defence cannot become – as Netanyahu said a few days ago – a project 'to change the face of the Middle East'. And yet this project is well ahead. Under the Netanyahu leadership, Gaza has been destroyed. The vast expanse of land, the property has been requisitioned in the West Bank, Lebanon has been invaded. This is not a plan for peace. This is a plan for dominion. Netanyahu has no mandate for this. Yet Europe has been slow and indecisive on those issues. It is time to put underway a full European initiative for peace. My proposal is to create a dedicated project led by a very high-level envoy for peace in the Middle East, with the scope to call for an international conference as soon as possible.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, I will not repeat the many complaints, I will not repeat the long list of horrors that we are all experiencing about Gaza, the Palestinians, 7 October and the entire Middle East. Unfortunately, indignation and denunciations do not make a peace process. I am a firm supporter of the fact that it is societies that get back together, it is societies that change and lead governments to make peace. In my opinion, Mr President, we have a double positive expression on this. In the Palestinian world, a very serious adherence to change has been set in motion, at least politically. In the change there is also a reform, which has been widely accepted, of the PLO and the PLO leaders. Equally great is the change in Israeli society. We continue to speak here of Israel, but there is not a single Israel: Israel is not just Netanyahu, and the families of the hostages, who with their resilience have galvanized a great movement against Netanyahu and are calling for elections, have demonstrated this very well. I believe that these are two new elements from which to start again to discuss.