Debate contributions by Giorgos GEORGIOU

Madam President, thank you in particular, because so far you are the only one who spoke here about the need to find a solution of a Bizonal Bicommunal Federation on the Cyprus problem. It's very, very critical. Mr President, I welcome you on behalf of the European Left. The assumption of the presidency on behalf of Cyprus is a pivotal moment for our country, and we as AKEL and The Left will contribute with all our strength. But let's be honest: the priorities and policies of the Union are already inherited, with the stamp of the major countries of the European Union. Which Europe do we receive? A Europe with policies that serve not the public interest, but the great, powerful economic interests. A Europe whose role in the international arena is limited. Here Trump – if possible – goes to abolish the UN itself with its so-called peace councils. A Europe that rightly reacts to Greenland, but caresses Turkey and Israel, and hides when Trump violates international law in Venezuela. A Europe that is turning into a union of war. How can we achieve stability in our region without a solution to the Cyprus problem? By tying it to Israel's and NATO's tank? Why do you accept, Mr President, the problematic pact on asylum and immigration? Why are you advocating veto gnawing? There is also the issue of the rule of law that suffers, as well as corruption, in our country, which unfortunately is coming back, and the shadows are unbearable. Let's see what happens in practice. Look at the young people, the workers, the women and the farmers, whom we are breaking up with Mercosur. There are many challenges, Mr. President. The credibility of the Union will be judged if it adopts its declared principles: social justice, solidarity, active defence of international law. Become a force of consistency, because this is not a given today. That's what it's all about. Your Honor, good luck! Many thanks to all the competent and worthy officials of our country, who contribute to make a good presidency.

Mr President, the illegal proclamation of the pseudo-state in Cyprus is the culmination of Turkey's dichotomous policy. In Cyprus there are neither two states nor two peoples. There are, however, people who suffer from the Turkish occupation army, the settlement, the uncertainty about the fate of all missing persons on the island. We demand that the occupation and the status quo be abolished. We insist on the solution of the Cyprus problem, a bizonal, bicommunal federation with political equality, as determined by UN Security Council resolutions, and the reunification of Cyprus and its people. Now there's one last, faint opportunity. The pseudo-state will be abolished only by solution, not by shouting and barren rhetoric. Otherwise we are led to partition, with all the suffering it can bring for Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots. Indeed, Commissioner, 51 years of occupation is too many. Our people, our children, demand a peaceful future. And we, as the Left in Cyprus but also here, will give this struggle for reunification to the end.

Madam President, Commissioner, is Trump's plan ultimately a peace agreement? Just yesterday, Israel killed 45 Palestinians and closed Rafah. But to be honest, Hamas is also executing Palestinians in the streets. The genocide continues, humanitarian aid practically never began. What about your responsibilities? The European Union has been tragically absent for two years. He was waiting for Trump to bring a controversial peace plan. As Pontian Pilates you equip the perpetrator to kill, you do not sanction him. What about the criminal Netanyahu? Will he get away with it? Will he go unpunished? And you throw a few crumbs, supposedly as humanitarian aid, at the victims. The coming of peace in Palestine takes virtue and courage, and has a name: Creation of a Palestinian state. Do you dare to impose it? Because history will judge you and judge you very severely.

Madam President, anti-Semitism does not thrive on us on the left, nor Islamophobia, because we are not extreme, as you have suggested; Because we believe in people and reject all forms of hatred and racism. Nor, of course, should the people of Israel be identified with the criminal government of Netanyahu, which you did not condemn. But Israel's crimes cannot be washed away by baptizing every statement of support for Palestine as anti-Semitism. We have reached the tragic point, colleagues, where the UN, Amnesty International, the International Criminal Court, university professors, journalists are accused of anti-Semitism. I would like to ask: Are Olmert, Israel's former prime minister, or other former ministers and military commanders, anti-Semites who accuse Netanyahu of war crimes and genocide? Or the Jews of England, who say "what is happening is intolerable, our Jewish roots force us to speak"? Just like that, if you want to be called human. Speak or be silent. We'll talk.

Madam President, any attempt at peace in Gaza is welcome. But let's not be fooled: Trump's plan is cut and tailored to Israel and, of course, cannot erase Netanyahu's crimes. The genocide we are witnessing on live broadcast is not erased. Nor, of course, the tolerance of the United States and the European Union. Peace is two years late – if it comes. That's why I'm asking: Why is the massacre still going on? Why are flotilla activists carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza arrested? When will the Israeli army leave and with what guarantees? Will Trump and Blair continue to run Gaza? Will the settlements in the West Bank be terminated? Do the pseudo-sanctions announced by Mrs Von der Leyen – you remember them, I imagine – apply? And, most importantly, will the state of Palestine be recognized? Because Mr. Netanyahu and Israel's extreme hawks say: "never". Mr. Trump chews on his words. What do you say?

Madam President, I would like to thank colleagues from the other political groups for their constructive attitude in drawing up the joint motion for a resolution. As a last-minute development has occurred, I would like to table an oral amendment: whereas, although on 10 September 2025 three of the five Greek Cypriot citizens were released on bail by the unrecognised 'military court', they remain in the occupied areas and cannot return to their homes,

Mr President, Commissioner, five Greek Cypriots in the last two months have been rotting in the dungeons of the prisons of the illegal Tatar regime in occupied Cyprus. Only today, three of the five were released on parole. We call for the unconditional release of all five. Their sin? They visited their occupied properties. They are being tried on false charges in retaliation for the arrest of the abusers, the usurpers of our occupied property. Aim for it? Serving Tatar's election purposes, excitement of nationalism between the two communities, undermining the UN Secretary-General's efforts for a solution to the Cyprus problem. I would like to note that former Turkish Cypriot leaders, lawyers, politicians, academics and trade unionists in the occupied areas react strongly to this chase. We sent two letters to the European institutions to press for the release of these people who are European citizens. No reaction. I understand, of course, that Turkey is useful to you, we have taught you between justice and interests, you choose the latter coldly; You just don't admit it.

Mr President, Commissioner, I heard in your speech 10 'shall' and 20 'must'. The fires that burned Europe this year have shown that austerity policies are catastrophic. Cyprus unfortunately holds the negative first of the decade based on its total territory. They burned 104 square kilometers. We did not see your solidarity. We asked for two planes from Spain, after three months they have not come yet. The responsibilities of the Cypriot government, of course, are enormous, but they remain orphans, since no one has resigned from the competent ministers. Since 2016, we as the Left have been calling for the establishment of a European air firefighting base in Cyprus. You are ostentatiously ignoring us. Instead of social policy, you throw it all on climate change and individual responsibility. The rescEU mechanism perpetuates the shortcomings of European Union countries by recycling scarce instruments. You told us we needed investment. Give away the billions of armaments and let the war groups earn less at last.

Mr President, Commissioner, a fascist coup d'état and an invasion by Turkey, all engineered by NATO, have brought division to my country, in fact. 51 years later, this dichotomy in a nightmarish way is ahead of us. Erdoğan and Tatar provocatively call for a separate state in the North. The UN is desperately trying to restart negotiations in a climate of pessimism. NATO and the Americans are closing their eyes to the violation of international law to hold Turkey in their arms. The European Union caresses Erdoğan. They declare Turkey a strategic partner and guarantor of European security. If possible, have the wolf guard the sheep. But Europe, if it wants, can help in the context of Euro-Turkish relations. To break the deadlock, reopen meaningful negotiations, for a bizonal bicommunal federation solution with political equality on the basis of UN resolutions and the European acquis. Otherwise, what's left? It remains a divided Cyprus, as an eternal stigma of shame for the Union itself and for the international community. Will you accept it? We, I assure you, as the Left, here and in Cyprus, will never accept it.

Madam President, Mrs Kallas, today is your birthday. But you know what? There in Gaza they cannot afford to think about their birthday. There in Gaza, all they can think about is when the time of their death will come. Prominent Israelis – even Mr Olmert, the former prime minister – say that Netanyahu is committing genocide in Gaza, killing children for hobbies. He's a war criminal based in the International Criminal Court. Now it is attacking Iran, setting fire to the whole Middle East. I wonder if this is the Middle East we want to build. The new Guernica today is Gaza and is the great shame of the Western world. End immediately the association agreement with Israel. A genocide is taking place before your eyes. How many deaths will you react to? Why do you continue to support a war criminal? Stop, at last, rewarding Israel's barbarism. Unless you've become so barbaric.

Madam President, Mrs Kallas, let us talk about NATO. Let me tell you what NATO is, as a Cypriot, that I know firsthand. It is what provoked a fascist coup d'état in Cyprus in 1974 and prompted Turkey to invade my island. It is the one that supports, caresses and equips Turkey, which 51 years later occupies the territory of a Member State. It is NATO that gave birth to and supported dictatorships in the 1970s in Greece, Spain and Portugal. It is the one that flattened Iraq, Yugoslavia and Afghanistan. It is this that has fuelled and sustained the war in Ukraine. It is what today wants to steal money from the backwardness of the European peoples in order to enrich the merchants of war. It is a bellicose organism, which feeds on the blood and fear it spreads. What about Europe? Europe is a political dwarf, a sad tail of NATO, watching things with guilt and embarrassment. And we who want peace tell you that, as long as NATO exists, the peoples will not have peace.

Mr President, I would like to thank the rapporteur friend for offering us a balanced report on Montenegro. Montenegro can fairly be described – as other colleagues have said – as a pioneer country in the enlargement process of the Western Balkans, since all 33 negotiating chapters have been opened – even though six of them are closed. The country is increasingly ready to meet the necessary Copenhagen membership criteria. Clearly, however, much remains to be done, especially in the area of the fight against corruption, both institutionally and in terms of culture and education. The country should also align with the recommendations of the Venice Commission and ensure the smooth functioning of the rule of law, with a main focus on press freedom. But – listen to me a little – I am concerned about this: Are we, who are assessing third countries, convinced that the European Union meets the expectations of its people and those we want to integrate? When we are plagued by scandals like vaccines, when we whistle indifferently about the genocide in Palestine. We are not taking any diplomatic initiative to end the wars in Ukraine and Gaza, we have not found a word of condemnation for Israel's unprovoked attack on Iran, we are not ensuring an adequate standard of living for millions of European citizens. We spend billions – we do not have – on armaments. You know what? Teachers need to convince students and we, I think, have failed.

Mr President, Mr Lenaers, I am really glad that, on behalf of the European People's Party, you are also admitting that, although we worked very hard as the PEGA Committee and gave them everything - facts, sinful companies, names and addresses - and made recommendations to them, the guilty states did nothing. Or rather, they did: They allowed the use of spyware against journalists. That is the truth, Commissioner and Minister. Words and inexpensive rhetoric are no longer enough. The situation now is worse than the previous one. Predator software is still actively used. We also learned about Graphite, which is an evolution of Pegasus developed by the Israeli NSO. Here, the Israeli ambassador to Spain himself boldly warned the country with surveillance revelations because Spain recognized Palestine. Tell us, what don't you understand? Be brave at last; Prohibit them. Otherwise, you are complicit – as you are in so many others.

Mr President, I would like to begin by thanking Mr Amor, the rapporteur for the report on the Turkey-European Union accession negotiations, for his effort to give us a balanced text, under the circumstances. A text that has many fair and correct references to the Bizonal Bicommunal Federation as the basis for a solution to the Cyprus problem, the rejection of the two-state solution, the surrender of Varosha to its lawful inhabitants, the need to clarify the fate of the missing, the detachment of the Turkish Cypriots from Ankara's suffocating embrace. Also positive is what is said about Greek-Turkish – the need to respect the Copenhagen criteria, Turkey’s recognition of all Member States, as well as Turkey’s strong criticism of democracy, the rule of law and human rights. But, Commissioner, can you consider Turkey to be your strategic partner? To offer it an upgraded customs union and a strategic partnership instead of accession, i.e. more privileges without obligations? You have made good efforts, Mr Amor, with regard to the report. But bread and knife are in the hands of the Council and the Commission, and they are ready to give almost everything to Turkey and Erdoğan. But where did you see the progress, Commissioner? Erdoğan sent you a message yesterday from occupied Nicosia and told you: I don't count you. I bring a message of partition to Cyprus, I realize the blue homeland. I'm a cowboy in the area. I wonder, how can you stand him? Or is it convenient for you after all?

Madam President, I would like to begin by thanking Mr Bajada for his effort to present us with a balanced text. Without water there is no life, and already many states began to thirst. Among them is Cyprus, my country, which is at the heart of this crisis. The effects of climate change, water scarcity, reckless waste of water and the negligence of governments, which did not take measures to safeguard water as a public good, led to the tragic situation we are experiencing today. The bill will again be paid by the people, agriculture and small businesses. Water will not be solved by borrowed desalination, as my country, Cyprus, is doing today, nor by piecemeal measures. We need a holistic national strategy but also support from the European Union, which is why we welcome the adoption of our proposal to create a regional centre in the Mediterranean that takes water management into account. What is needed today is immediate political will to implement the proposals. Today, before it's too late.

Madam President, 51 years after the illegal Turkish invasion, Cyprus, a member of the European Union, remains a divided country, with Turkey occupying 37% of its territory and violating basic principles of international law. Eight years after the failure in Crans-Montana, the informal five-party meeting was recently held in Geneva. As AKEL and as the European Left we supported this process as an attempt to break the deadlock and start the substantive negotiations from the point where they were interrupted. By fully adopting the Guterres framework and the convergences for a Bizonal Bicommunal Federation solution with political equality. Turkey and Tatar must abandon the idea of two states and sovereign equality. Any concessions to Turkey in the context of Euro-Turkish relations must necessarily be linked to the solution of the Cyprus problem. The impasse and stagnation do not suit anyone, not even the European Union. Only those who promote partition. We - the partition - will not accept this and it will never suit us.

Madam President, Mrs Kallas, I wonder why you are still debating. To keep up appearances? But there's nothing left. Schools, health centers, infrastructure became ruins. 50 000 Palestinians have been murdered and so many more are missing. The majority of them are children, women and the elderly. How can you sleep at night? Honestly, I'm asking. Now the havoc is over – says Gideon Levy, a columnist for Haaretz, even Israel now cannot hide that it is hitting civilians. That in itself is a war crime. Don't you see it? We're still talking here, too. How much hypocrisy? Before your eyes there is an ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people and you are rewarding Israel's barbarity. The European Union has its hands drenched in blood. Suspend all agreements with Israel immediately. End the occupation immediately. Give Palestinians the state they are entitled to.

Madam President, Commissioner, the fact that you did not go to Ankara does not matter much. Let's admit it: Erdoğan has you in hand. There's no other explanation. He jails mayors, arrests thousands of Turkish citizens, exterminates his political opponents. Mr von der Leyen and Mr Kallas and the majority of European leaders appeased him. We are absent, bent and fatal. You pretend you don't see his totalitarianism. You even put him on the right side of the story. Who? - Who? Erdoğan. You have now declared him the guarantor of European security to serve your warlike plans. You will give him many billions of our pockets to equip you. It's a disgrace! Ask Turkey for what is self-evident – respect for democratic principles, the rule of law and human rights – at last. Stop putting Europe itself on the wrong side of history. Or is there no stopping the downhill? What do you say?

Mr. President, you're finally gonna do it, aren't you? Through a war frenzy, you will spend 800 billion, which you do not have, on the so-called common defense. But for there to be a common defence, there must also be a common foreign policy. There are too many reluctants here. You are committing illegal, anti-institutional misconduct and proclaiming Turkey the guarantor of European security. It's a disgrace! Allegedly to support Ukraine and its people. Tell the truth, what you want, through a vulgar bargain with the Americans, is the country's rare earths and wealth. Tell the truth at last. You will bankrupt European peoples and enrich the merchants of death, to move European economies through armaments. You've already confessed: Hand in hand with the sinful NATO you will walk. European autonomy, of course, is also on the way. Commissioner, you are sowing winds and the European people will reap storms. The ball is now at the feet of the European peoples. Only they can stop you.

Mr President, Commissioner, we are again here for Turkey, a country with the highest prison rates of all the member states of the Council of Europe. A country that, while saying that it is negotiating with Öcalan for a peaceful settlement with the Kurds, at the same time represses the opposition, jails and removes democratically elected Kurdish mayors from their positions. Here, obviously, something's wrong. We ask Turkey for the obvious and you should ask for them too. That is, to respect democratic values, the rule of law, human rights and comply with European Union law. These are absolute criteria that cannot be included in an oriental bazaar without principles. Turkey cannot rank, as some European officials say, on the right side of history while behaving with authoritarianism. Neither can you, however, sacrifice everything for money and to serve some interests. Mrs von der Leyen must say this and demand it from Mr Erdoğan when they meet. I hope he can.

Mr President, it strikes me that some people only see missing persons in Ukraine. They also talk about Gaza, but they don't tell us that there are only Palestinians missing in Gaza. Nor do they tell us about the tens of thousands of missing persons that emerged from fascist dictatorial regimes in Europe. There are, of course, the missing persons in Cyprus. Unfortunately, for many decades the issue of missing persons in Cyprus, perhaps the most tragic aspect of this problem, has continued. The list of course is enriched by Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot missing persons and the pain for mothers, siblings and relatives is common. Of course, the Committee on Missing Persons is supported by the European Union, but this support is not enough, because Turkey continues to present obstacles, difficulties and misinformation. Thus, the responsibilities of the European Union and the international community are now even more important in the direction of pressuring Turkey, forcing it to open its military archives, providing information and data on the missing. I refer characteristically to the case of the missing persons of Assia, my village. There, the Turkish army executed 70 people in cold blood and threw them into a well. In 1996 they were moved to a garbage dump in Dikomo. There is also my uncle, my uncle Kleanthis. We want their bones back, to bury them as befits the dead. We're not asking for much. We want to act now. We owe it to the memory of the victims. We owe it to their families who need to know the truth.

Mr President, Commissioner, the planet is literally burning. It is affected by droughts, storms and heatwaves that cause loss of life and property, irreparably damage the natural environment and lead to water scarcity. This is called climate change. Oh, that's wrong. Let's call it a crisis and let Trump and his like in here mock it as a silly story. I'm going to believe, of course, that Europe is not going back either. You are generously giving billions for defense and militarization, pledging the future of future generations. But when it comes to the green transition, you are tightening the belts too much. Boost green capitalism by giving too many gifts to the so-called green transition industrialists. At last tax the rich polluters, not the poor and middle popular strata, not the global South that bears the brunt of climate impacts. Commissioner, the disaster lies ahead of you. Do something about it. You may not have another chance.