Speeches

(IT) Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, there is one emblematic case of children recruited by crime and it concerns unaccompanied foreign children in particular. These are over 50,000 young people, mainly from North Africa, who in the last two years are easy prey to organized crime. So far, the European Union has failed on this issue. It has been absent, putting the problem on the national states, already overburdened with emergencies and budgetary problems. We need new policies that provide, on the one hand, firm rules because these children, who are over 15 years old, attend professional courses aimed at job integration. Otherwise, they must be repatriated to their countries of origin, a place certainly better than the dark environments where drugs, theft and prostitution reign supreme.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, Commissioner, 10 October is World Health Day, a great human challenge. There are two main trends in the spread of these diseases: endemic uncertainty and disorientation in international relations, due above all to the loneliness of man without more bridges to the community. We are not talking only about serious disorders, but about anxiety, phobias, depressions, obsessive disorders, addictions, all forms that lead to unhappiness. Then mental distress must be considered among the aspects of primary health care. That is why I call on the Commission to make resources available for the integration of mental health into primary care. Effectively implement early detection plans at schools, workplaces, community centers, and promote quality improvement and care programs.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, all of us here in this House are saying that this law is uncivilised, that it is the offspring of a barbaric culture that deprives women of dignity and humanity. And we are rightly condemning it. But telling us is no longer enough: We need an immediate change of European policies towards the Taliban regime. I submitted, together with the delegation of Fratelli d'Italia, a question to the Commission to ask about the results of European policies towards Afghanistan and the €140 million granted in 2023 with humanitarian objectives, including support for women's empowerment. It is clear that these policies do not work. Concrete initiatives are needed to defend Afghan women. For example, we give protection and asylum to all those women who intend or manage to escape from this regime, who want to study or work in Europe. We immediately recognize these women as political refugees: They really are. Because a Europe either makes itself bearer of the principles of justice and freedom, and we stand for justice and freedom.