What Loránt spoke about.

18

Apr

2023

EN Speech

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Question Time (Commission) - Legacy of the European Year of Youth

Mr President, Madam Commissioner. As we reflect on the legacy of the European Year of Youth, clearly one of the most pressing issues was the lack of proper funding which affected the quality and scope of the events organised. Romania received a very small amount from Erasmus+ for youth projects and the payment was made only in November 2022. This definitely did not mean good planning, sufficient f…

17

Apr

2023

HU Speech

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Institutional relations between the EU and the Council of Europe (short presentation)

Mr. President, please. Dear colleagues, For the first time, the European Parliament produces a comprehensive report on cooperation between the European Union and the Council of Europe. Undoubtedly, it was time for Parliament to analyse and evaluate the very wide range of relations, and for several reasons, I would now like to highlight three: On the one hand, the EU considers the Council of Europe…

13

Feb

2023

EN Speech

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Electoral rights of mobile Union citizens in European Parliament elections - Electoral rights of mobile Union citizens in municipal elections (debate)

Madam President, dear Commissioner Jourová, I would like to thank the rapporteur, Damian Boeselager, for the very good cooperation in preparing Parliament’s position. Available data makes it evident that the participation rate in elections among the mobile European citizens is much lower than that of the nationals in a Member State. There are many factors influencing the decision to vote or not, a…

15

Dec

2022

EN Speech

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The 30th anniversary of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities (debate)

Madam President, dear Commissioner Kyriakides, minorities have been frequently subjected to restrictions and even suppression. This was true in the past and it is still true today. The UN declaration has lost nothing of its relevance. Minorities are often instrumentalised in the most violent internal conflicts. In extreme cases, they were subject to some of the worst atrocities ever committed, ins…

14

Dec

2022

EN Speech

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Deliberations of the Committee on Petitions in 2021 (debate)

Madam President, I would like to thank all my colleagues for their valuable opinion and the good cooperation, to the shadow rapporteurs – you expressed very important proposals, you also expressed the political criticism. Well, our Petitions Committee is a political body, and we give the chance to all the citizens, all the petitioners, no matter from which ideology they come from, to have their sa…

14

Dec

2022

EN Speech

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Deliberations of the Committee on Petitions in 2021 (debate)

Madam President, Commissioner Hahn, dear colleagues, I am pleased to present you the report about the outcome of the Committee on Petitions’ deliberations in 2021. It is the concluding part of this traditional exercise in which our committee provides a comprehensive overview of the work carried out in the previous year. The Committee on Petitions, and I quote from the report, ‘is best able to show…

12

Dec

2022

EN Speech

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Order of business

Madam President, on Sunday, 18 December, we celebrate the World Minorities Rights Day. This date also marks the 30-year anniversary since the adoption of the Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities. It is the only UN international human rights instrument devoted to minority rights, and it is built on the core idea that the rights of…

24

Nov

2022

EN Speech

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The European Year of Youth 2022 Legacy (debate)

Madam President, Commissioner Breton, by declaring the European Year of Youth, the Commission and the entire European Union made a strong commitment towards young people. I believe this commitment, but also the responsibility of the Union. I checked the European Year of Youth portal for my constituency. It lists nearly 2 000 events in Romania, but they are not dedicated initiatives and have little…

19

Oct

2022

EN Speech

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Whitewashing of the anti-European extreme right in the EU (topical debate)

Mr President, strangely enough, we never have a debate in this House about the dangers of the extreme left for our societies. I could tell you a lot about how extreme left communism devastated my country, Romania. In Sweden, the government was formed yesterday, while in Italy it has not even been formed yet. Nonetheless, the left in this house wants to put a quarantine stamp on a majority that eme…

5

Oct

2022

EN Speech

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The Media freedom crackdown in Myanmar, notably the cases of Htet Htet Khine, Sithu Aung Myint and Nyein Nyein Aye

Mr President, the situation in Myanmar is getting worse by the day. The military regime is doing everything possible to prevent the press from reporting on the atrocities happening in the country. Compared to our last October’s debate on Myanmar, the total number of people killed and arrested has almost doubled. Journalism has become a very dangerous profession in Myanmar. Media outlets are shut d…

5

Oct

2022

RO Speech

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The accession of Romania and Bulgaria to the Schengen area (debate)

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, we often speak of European solidarity. Some states are extremely supportive when it comes to third countries, but more reluctant when they have to give their consent to the completion of Romania's European path, i.e. joining the Schengen area. It's not fair. We have done our homework, the technical access criteria have been met for more than ten years. In recent…

14

Sep

2022

HU Speech

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Existence of a clear risk of a serious breach by Hungary of the values on which the Union is founded (debate)

Madam President, I'm sorry. I read in the draft: the rights of persons belonging to minorities, including Roma and Jews, and protection against hateful statements against minorities. Anyone who hears this statement clearly believes that the Orbán government is anti-minority, anti-Semitic and anti-Roma. There's one problem with that: it's not true. So much so that the reporter cannot substantiate h…

9

Jun

2022

EN Speech

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The call for a Convention for the revision of the Treaties (debate)

Mr President, Vice-President, dear colleagues, the first question one could raise is whether there is a treaty-change opportunity. After all, there is a war in our neighbourhood, a severe recession is looming, energy prices are going through the roof… Why start a long and complicated political and legal procedure now instead of seeking fast and effective answers to the most pressing questions? Som…

7

Apr

2022

EN Speech

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The situation of marginalised Roma communities in the EU (debate)

Mr President, Madam Commissioner, dear colleagues, the precarious situation of Roma has been acknowledged in the EU and in the Member States. National strategies have been in place for over two decades now. But the hard truth is that little progress has been achieved. The majority of Europe’s Roma communities still live in poverty, often in favela-type settlements. This fact, honestly, is a shame …

5

Apr

2022

RO Speech

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EU Protection of children and young people fleeing the war against Ukraine (debate)

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, around 650 000 refugees have already arrived in Romania and almost 80 000 have remained. More than 43% are minors and 24,000 of them are of school age, many even without a parent. Beyond these figures, however, we are talking about families torn apart by this cruel and bloody war. It's hard to imagine the drama of every family leaving behind a life…

4

Apr

2022

HU Speech

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One-minute speeches on matters of political importance

Dear Mr President, In Hungary, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and the Fidesz-KDNP party alliance won a huge two-thirds victory in yesterday's elections. Hungarian communities living outside the borders of Hungary, including Hungarians living in Transylvania, contributed to this result. Hungarian citizens have chosen security and predictability, rejecting the unnatural party alliance, which is a platf…

14

Feb

2022

EN Speech

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Activities of the European Ombudsman – annual report 2020 (debate)

Madam President, I would like to thank Madam Ombudsman for her commitment to achieving the highest standards of good administration within the EU institutions. I am glad to see that the activities of the European Ombudsman gain more and more visibility. You updated and made the communication channels with the public more effective. I also applaud your engagement towards multilingualism, including …

15

Dec

2021

HU Speech

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The European Commission Guidelines on inclusive language (topical debate)

Madam President, I'm sorry. We have heard from the European Commission that it is withdrawing the published document for recasting, and we have not been waiting for this response, because this means that this ambition for language censorship will remain and will come back in the form of a new proposal, but still. I lived under the communist regime, and I have to say that the current text of the Co…

23

Nov

2021

HU Speech

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Condemning police violence against Romani people in the EU (debate)

Dear Madam President, Mr. Secretary of State. You must be madam. Excessive authority and police violence against Roma are not new. We must experience that, unfortunately, there is still such a phenomenon in Europe today, and each case is one more than is acceptable in a democratic welfare society. I am concerned that we are devoting little time and attention to this phenomenon. In addition to the …

7

Oct

2021

EN Speech

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Human rights situation in Myanmar, including the situation of religious and ethnic groups

Mr President, Myanmar is not in the news every day. For a few weeks after the military coup, there was strong interest and world indignation when witnessing the atrocities committed by the new regime. Colleagues, our role today is to send a very clear signal to the world, especially the states in the regions and international organisations. The truth is that Myanmar (Burma) is the stage of one of …

5

Oct

2021

EN Speech

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The future of EU-US relations (debate)

Mr President, the United States has always been the European Union’s closest and most important strategic partner, and so it should remain. However, looking to the developments on the global stage in the last decade, it is clear that the EU is lagging behind in policy areas that represent a priority for the US. The Australia–United Kingdom–United States (AUKUS) deal and the abrupt US withdrawal fr…