Speeches

Mr President, we know the scandal has cast a long shadow on this institution, and yet, a year later, we are still scandalised and we’re looking for solutions. We are working in a democracy. And that’s what’s good about this establishment on which the scandal has shamed us. Madame Aubry earlier asked Madame Loiseau some questions. Madame Loiseau is an example that I would like to follow in terms of morality and fighting back against the lobbyists. We should all have her spirit. There’s one problem with this scandal, which is not to do with the European Parliament, and it is that the justice system in Belgium has not moved fast enough, it seems to me, to clear up the situation. As long as the perpetrators are not called to justice ˗ that’s not the role of the European Parliament ˗ we will not have clarity, we will not have what they say closure. And finally, we can pass as many rules as we like, as many procedures, as many signatures, it is an ethical, personal matter. It is to us to be the pure politicians serving the public interest.

Madam President, colleagues, right now, at this exact moment, in the troubled country that is Niger, President Mohamed Bazoum and his son are waiting to die. His crime: being a Democrat. The son’s crime: being his son. This is the sick logic of dictatorships. They are foes of light. Along with ministers and civilians, the Nigerien junta arrested democracy and snuffed out the light. We have seen many dictatorships in our lives, unfortunately, but we continue to be offended. As George Steiner wrote a long time ago, we must never grow accustomed to even the smallest violations – we must remain outraged. Though I have never met President Bazoum –one day I might – I get it. As a young boy of 11, I witnessed my own father being jailed and my grandfather died under house arrest. President Bazoum has been offered an escape clause to resign and go free. Simple, no? Not so simple. A warrior at heart, as I found out from my friend, he refuses to yield to his captors, even if this means he loses his life. With our vote tomorrow, we might just save a Democrat and his son. With our vote tomorrow, we show our solidarity with the people of Niger.

Madam President, rapporteur Picula’s report is very strong and congratulations for being honest, for not cutting any corners. And I agree with the colleague from the Greens that Montenegro has come so far and it has to go the extra mile. And I agree with the colleague Dzhambazki that there is an influence, as the report points out, from other countries, both Serbia and China, and the effort should be to encourage Montenegro to use the EU Investment Fund so it doesn’t depend on this largesse of China to enter in the Balkans. It’s one of the tricks, and Greece as well has fallen into that trap. President Milatović has shown keen interest in coming closer to Europe. He visited here many times. He’s very pro-Europe, but as pointed out by some of the speakers, it’s an unstable government. And the very nice title of Europe Now expresses the need, but it has to bring it to delivery. I was actually, in the last elections, an observer and it was peaceful and fair. But then we also discovered the problems about the influence of the foreign countries. If we are to bring the Western Balkans in by 2030, all these matters have to be resolved. And one small matter – nothing to do with Montenegro – we need to resolve the problems in other countries like Albania and to free mayors like Fredi Beleri.

–Mr President. I’ll speak in Greek, but first I would like to say to my colleague, Ms Vozemberg-Vrionidi from EPP New Democracy, that I hope that Greece never does this again. She says her government has stopped with PEGA, with the following, and with the spyware. I hope that’s true. However, there are some unsettling things still going on. Now I’ll switch to Greek. Είναι εξαιρετικά ανησυχητικό ότι η νέα ελληνική κυβέρνηση δεν ακολούθησε τις προτάσεις της επιτροπής PEGA, εκείνες που αφορούσαν τη λειτουργία της ΑΔΑΕ. The Hellenic Authority for Communication Security and Privacy. Maybe that’s ironic. Σας θυμίζω ότι γνωστό θύμα των υποκλοπών ήταν και ο σημερινός πρόεδρος του ΠΑΣΟΚ Νίκος Ανδρουλάκης. Η κυβέρνηση «κίνησε γη και ουρανό» έτσι ώστε μαζί με το μικρό δεξιό κόμμα να αλλάξει τα μέλη της επιτροπής, ακριβώς μια μέρα πριν από τη συνεδρίαση της ΑΔΑΕ για το θέμα των υποκλοπών. Μια μέρα πριν. Αυτό λέγεται συγκάλυψη. Με αυτόν τον αμφίβολο τρόπο η κυβέρνηση προστατεύεται από τις συνέπειες των πράξεών της. Κάνω έκκληση στο Συμβούλιο και την Ευρωπαϊκή Επιτροπή να θεσπίσει μια πανευρωπαϊκή νομοθεσία με ισχύ, ώστε να μπορέσουν τα θύματα των υποκλοπών να μάθουν επιτέλους αν παρακολουθούνταν, από ποιους και γιατί παρακολουθούνταν, και να αναζητήσουν δικαίωση.

Mr President, I would like to thank Nacho for the very good work he did; we worked together. I’ll go to Greek, but I think my interpretation of this is that it’s closing the door on accession. I heard different interpretations today, and for those in Greece, it’s a mixed bag – good and bad for us. It’s a slap in the face for Türkiye, but how do we pressure Türkiye from now on to democratise? What would be the instruments we could use to bring it closer to our values? I’m going to switch to Greek. Κύριε Πρόεδρε, να ξεκαθαρίσουμε ότι δεν κλείνουμε την πόρτα στην Τουρκία. Αν προτείνει τελικώς κάποια νέου τύπου σχέση, αυτό πρέπει να γίνει το γρηγορότερο δυνατό. Οφείλει να είναι σαφές ότι δεν υπογράφουμε λευκή επιταγή για το μέλλον. Αν πάμε προς τελωνειακή ένωση πρέπει να κρατήσουμε τις αξίες των ανθρωπίνων δικαιωμάτων. Προφανώς είναι σημαντικός εταίρος για τη Δύση, όμως πρέπει να εφαρμόσει τους κανόνες για τη μετανάστευση, όπως έχει συμφωνήσει, αλλά δεν το κάνει. Και προφανώς πρέπει να συνεχίσουμε να πιέζουμε για τη λύση του Κυπριακού.

Mr President, the catastrophic and extreme events that have affected Slovakia, Greece, Libya and Morocco show one thing: The beast of climate change is here and it's devouring everything. In Thessaly, to give a quick example, we saw divers searching for bodies in sunken houses. We haven't even seen this in science fiction movies. Like all Greek Members of the European Parliament today, I ask that the European Commission also bend over to the problem, to take additional and urgent measures. I hope soon, as many colleagues here have said, that the conservative forces in the European Parliament will support the Green Deal more strongly. I propose that the Greek government immediately proceed with the reconstruction of the infrastructure and prevent the epidemiological bomb coming from the polluted waters. We criticize the works that were not done, the modern technologies of prevention, which, as others said, were not implemented. By December, to go practically, it would be nice for the European Commission, the ENVI Committee and we at S&D, to propose a to do list of good practices for the prevention of fires and floods. This is something we can do from now until spring. We have seen volunteer firefighters, foresters, police officers, the army and ordinary citizens move decisively, with self-denial, courage and above all in the spirit of solidarity. I suggest we follow their example. Only with this determination, and with the emergency sirens ringing in our ears, will we tame the beast of climate change. As soon as possible, as other colleagues have said, we must take measures to reduce the rise in temperature. Action now by all of us.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, I have recently been fortunate enough to visit Albania as a member of the municipal election observation team. Yes, it was a smooth process. Yes, I agree with what the Commissioner and Ms Santos said; Albania has moved on, but there is something far behind: Two days before the national elections he cannot put in prison a number of mayors, including the very sensitive for us mayor of Himara, Freddie Beleris. He was eventually elected to prison. We call for his release if he wants Albania to have the support of Greece and all of us in trying to reach Europe in the 20's and 30's – and we wish him well. We want all the Western Balkans to enter at some point. He must as soon as possible abide by the rules of the rule of law, apply chapters 23 and 24, and then he will have our applause.