Debate contributions by Giorgos GEORGIOU

Mr President, as is well known, on 15 November 1983 the Turkish Cypriot leadership led by Rauf Denktash declared the pseudo-state in Cyprus to be the culmination of Turkey's dichotomous policy. This is an action that continues to this day to violate every principle of international law. In Cyprus there are neither two states nor two peoples. There are Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots in Cyprus who have been suffering for years from the same causes – the Turkish occupation army, settlements and the denial of basic human rights for all our people. We demand that the occupation be abolished, but also that the status quo be stopped. We insist on the solution of the Cyprus problem – a bizonal bicommunal federation solution with political equality – and on the reunification of Cyprus and its people. Only in this way can the pseudo-state be abolished. Not with shouting. Otherwise, we are led to the nightmare of partition, with all the suffering it can bring to Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots. 50 years of occupation, Mr President, is too much. Our people, our children, demand a peaceful future. We, as the Left in Cyprus, will continue this struggle to the end.

Madam President, Commissioner, I too had the honour of taking part in the UN Summit on the Future, a meeting which took place at a particularly difficult international juncture. Wars, climate crisis, poverty. Today, humanity faces an existential threat. What was agreed in the Pact for the Future, for peace and security, sustainable development and its financing, digital cooperation, youth and human rights sounds good. Is it sufficient? No, I don't. We live at a time when, while wars and conflicts are growing rapidly, we are witnessing a spectacular decline in diplomacy. Some countries do not respect UN resolutions, while at the same time scolding its secretary-general. Persona non grata! That sounded too! We must boldly reform the UN Council to include the ever-emerging global South. We must put an end to the colonial and neo-colonial approaches that have condemned millions of people to poverty and destitution, thereby financing our own prosperity. We are talking about the need to finance development in these third countries, without touching on the serious issue of writing off their debt. Now is the time to radically change direction. Otherwise, what we write and proclaim will have no more value than the ink spent on writing it.

(non-microphone principle of intervention) ...and we grieve for the Israeli victims of Hamas on the seventh of October. Does Israel have the right to self-defense? Clearly. What is happening is not self-defense. It is an ongoing ethnic cleansing and genocide. It dissolves Gaza, it bombs Iraq, Syria, Yemen, it invades Lebanon which is going to become a new Gaza, as you said, it takes Iran's turn and then what? A regional war that will set fire to the entire Middle East, to build the New Middle East through rivers of blood. This is the goal of Israel, the Americans and a part of the European Union. You fed the beast with guns and money, and now he doesn't count on anyone. Neither you, Mr. Borrell, nor the Secretary-General of the United Nations. He's only counting on his own survival. We are saddened by all this, because no one is referring to the need to establish a Palestinian state. We are saddened, above all, because we know that there are instigators and accomplices behind this crime.

Mr President, Commissioner, Europe and – in particular – the Mediterranean countries are facing the problem of water scarcity as a consequence of climate change. In my country, Cyprus, the repercussions are particularly dramatic, with huge damage to crops. That is why, as a left-wing group, we called for the plenary to commit to a resolution calling on the European Union to actively support its members in tackling the effects of water scarcity on human health, agriculture, the economy and the environment. Unfortunately, our request was rejected. Let everyone finally take responsibility. Endless debates are not enough; projects are needed. Climate change, which afflicts our farmers, is also the result of some European policies, to be frank, which sacrifice the environment and public health on the altar of big companies' profit. We will continue to fight for the protection of the environment and for the just demands of farmers. We call on you to actively support farmers from the agricultural reserve and to make public investments to create desalination plants, among other things, to address the problem of water scarcity.

Madam President, Commissioner, respect for human rights and the rule of law are non-negotiable values for all and – of course – also for Cuba. But this supposed sensitivity of the anti-Cuban lobby that we have heard here tonight about democracy and freedoms in Cuba is hypocritical. Is there a greater violation of human rights than the illegal imposition of the barbaric US embargo against the Cuban people? If the Cuban people are in a dramatic situation, it is for this very reason. Why don't you talk about it? They have literally drowned Cuba and its proud people for 65 years because they chose to take their fate into their own hands. You don't say a word about it. Here, even UN resolutions on the need to lift the embargo against Cuba are violated. Leave the Americans and cheap anti-communism. The European Union – after Draghi says it wants to become autonomous – should develop a dialogue with Cuba on the basis of honesty, equality and reciprocity. Let this proud people live freely on the path they have chosen.

Madam President, Commissioner, history is well known. Listen to her. When the Germans went to Paris, a Nazi officer visited Picasso in his laboratory. Seeing Guernica, the painting of this small Spanish town flattened by Franco with his fascist allies, he asked him: Did you do that? "No," he said, "you." Gaza is the new Guernica these days. When questioned in the future by another Picasso, he will answer that these atrocities and this genocide were committed by the arch-murderer Netanyahu together with his allies; the United States, NATO and the European Union. Gaza is the great disgrace of the Western capitalist world. Already in its ruins were buried the last examples of humanity and sensitivity of the European Union. I ask: How much more blood do you have to shed to get excited? How many deaths will you respond to? Why do you continue to support Netanyahu, a war criminal?

Madam President, Commissioner, let us speak frankly. In Ukraine, it is not only Zelenskyy who is fighting against Putin. In Ukraine, NATO and the European Union are fighting against Russia. And don't tell us we're pro-Putin now to get it over with, because we're not. That's the truth. We defend peace. But you also have to tell your own truth. That you don't care at all about the thousands of young Ukrainians and Russians milled by the war meat grinder in a war waged over fossil fuels, energy, pipelines and to serve imperialist geopolitical rivalries. You're already preparing us for war. Draghi said so; EUR 500 billion for the defence industry over the next ten years. That is, public money to speculate on the war industries. This will dismantle the welfare state, health and education in Europe. And - I say - stop sending weapons at last. Ukraine and Europe need peace, not war.

Madam President, thank you for mentioning this sad anniversary. Fifty years is a long time. Fifty years since the double crime against the Cypriot people. A coup d'état was carried out after it was first organized by NATO. It was carried out by the junta of Athens and the fascist EOKA B in our country. This was followed, unfortunately, by the barbaric Turkish invasion five days later, with tragic consequences. Thousands of dead, missing and a settlement that threatens to diversify my country demographically. We ask you for practical help. Not in words; with projects. I understand that for many, for the Union itself, Turkey is valuable. But it is more valuable – if we want Europe to rise to the occasion – for Europe to uphold international law, to contribute to peace in the region, for talks to resume from where they were left in Crans Montana and for our people, Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, to pacify with a bizonal bicommunal federation solution. It would be a blessing for us if in practice you contributed in this direction.