Debate contributions by Maria ZACHARIA

Mr President, I would like to make it clear that every time I have intervened I do so without supporting either Putin, Zelenskyy, Trump, von der Leyen or any of them. I am interested in European citizens. They're the ones I've come here to protect and represent. The intention to use the 200 billion euros of Russian state reserves is an extremely dangerous option, and I want what I'm going to say to be heard here, be aware of it before it happens: If Europe breaks the principle of the immunity of state reserves, it will cause capital and deposits to run out of the European banking system. Confidence in the euro will be severely damaged. To prevent a banking collapse, the European Central Bank will be forced to print money. This leads to inflation, perhaps hyperinflation. In practice, citizens with their salaries, pensions and businesses will fall out. Europe cannot shoot at its feet.

Madam President, dear colleagues, today I will take this minute to address mainly the men in the room – not so many, unfortunately – since women know, almost to their bones, what I will talk about. How many times have you been catcalled on the street? How many times have you walked home holding your keys, almost running, drenched in fear, just to make it home? How many times have you been judged for your choices? Stripped of your value at the workplace, dismissed for your opinion, for being a woman? 'What are you wearing?' 'Are you sure you are eating that?' 'Isn't this dress short?' 'You provoked him.' 'What were you wearing?' 'He is your husband, you have to forgive him'. Thank you for your time, and please take a moment to ask yourselves: if patriarchy is not in the room with us, then why is femicide an established term?

Mr President, in February 2024, the Committee on Petitions examined Ms Karystianou’s petition on state crime in Tempi, which was supported by 1.5 million citizens’ signatures. However, after the examination, the petition was stuck in a simple exchange of documents between the services. And then silence. No institutional inquiry was launched, only pretentious debates in plenary, closed between groups and mined by the EPP – the Greek government’s party – and the far right. When, as a member of the Committee, I requested that the petition for discussion be urgently reopened, when I informed you that the father of a victim, Panos Routsi, had just started a hunger strike and his life was in danger, what did you do? Nothing at all. Two and a half years of mocking the Greek government towards its relatives. One and a half years of inaction on the part of the European Parliament. It took 23 days of the father's strike to restore the rule of law. Citizens with their demonstrations, their solidarity, forced the authorities to retreat. Not the institutions; citizens. What does the Committee on Petitions actually do? What role does it play? What role do you play, gentlemen?

Madam President, the Rodrigues report abolishes controls, giving rise to scandals involving the misappropriation of European funds, such as that of OPEKEPE in Greece. It leaves the gospel of the CAP intact, 80% of the subsidies going to 20% of the beneficiaries. It does not reduce the cost of the small farmer, it only reduces the obligations of the big ones. The Imart report, on the other hand, has good intentions but they are not enough. Without binding control mechanisms and clauses against Mercosur-type agreements, farmers will continue to be threatened by cheap, uncontrolled imports. Question: Why is the cost of energy and fertilizer out of the question, colleagues? Commissioner, what about sheep pox and goat pox for farmers? Greece kills thousands of animals rather than vaccinates them. The majority of Greek farmers have been completely destroyed. I ask you to immediately and urgently disburse funds for these compensations. You must see it immediately, please.

Madam President, the European Commission and the Council, the European Union indirectly finances the occupation by purchasing Israeli weapons and surveillance software – first and foremost Greece. Ladies and gentlemen, you have violated Article 2 of the EU-Israel Agreement. The European Commission refused me access to the documents proving your complicity, the opinion of your Legal Service. Today you are talking about the two years of the undisputed attack by Hamas. You forget, however, that Israel has been systematically attacking Palestine since 1948, when 700,000 people were expelled from their homes. At the time, Palestine occupied 70% of its historical land. Today, 12% remain under military blockade. Do you have anything to tell us about this?

Mr President, in Greece, citizens are suffering from record heatwaves. The fires erupted from wooden columns and pillars of the Public Power Corporation, which after privatisation were left without maintenance because the cost was considered high. Firefighters remain seasonal workers with incomplete logistical equipment. The mountaintops fill wind turbines within forests and Natura areas. This is the image of a policy that surrenders the country to profit and leaves citizens unprotected. Compensation is not coming. In Albania, Mr. Rama after the fires that burned 111 square kilometers of land of the Greek minority, not only did not offer any help, but now allows building on the burnt. It is an organized effort for the displacement of Greeks and the settlement by Albanians of the territories of the Greek minority. Europe must support local communities, ban the building of burnt buildings, protect the Greek minority in Albania and fund housing, health, civil protection and prevention networks across Europe.

Madam President, the Lalucq report, based on the Draghi report, acknowledges the need for investment. But instead of talking about social needs, inequalities, wages and the welfare state, the answer is more dependence on markets, more power in banks and funds. That is, "casino-capitalism" that has already collapsed is being re-served as a solution. In the North they talk about competitiveness, while in the South people live on poverty wages, youth emigration, public health and education systems in collapse. This is a two-speed Europe. We do not need more "casino capitalism" and dependence on the markets that bankrupted Europe and gave rise to inequalities. We need a new social agreement, public investment, fair taxation, support for workers and small businesses, fairness and transparency for all.

Madam President, the CAP is strangling small farmers, turning subsidies into a trap. Instead of supporting production and self-sufficiency, it produces dependencies and dead ends. Today, farmers are abandoning their land because of European Union policy. That's not enough for you. You also bring the Mercosur agreement. In Greece, CAP money became a vote-buying tool. A government gang squandered the EU funds by distributing them to us through virtual pastures and false declarations, with the participation of the appointed officials of OPEKEPE, the national body for the management and payment of CAP funds. The European Prosecutor uncovered the fraud. Four ministers resigned, 415 million the fine for the people. The real peasants pay the price by seeing the money they were entitled to end up in the party clientele. Europe must support real farmers and must punish the thieves, forgers and government apparatuses of Mitsotakis who conspired to...

Madam President, are you talking about a Preparedness Union? What kind of readiness? When does the European Union itself finance the disaster? The AntiNero programme is being implemented in Greece without an environmental permit, violating European directives, destroying Natura areas and forests with supposedly fire-fighting works that amount to systematic deforestation. It does not prevent fires. It makes it easier for them. Greece is burning again. I put a written question to the Commission. He replied that he had no information about the project, even though he financed it with hundreds of millions of euros from the Recovery Fund. He will check, he says, when the time comes to pay, when the damage will be irreparable. Following this, 213 environmental and social bodies and citizens of Greece submitted an official petition to the European Parliament, denouncing violations, misappropriation of funds and terrible environmental degradation by AntiNero. When will you finally act? How many more fires? If you want real readiness, stop funding the arson of nature. No more programs of destruction. We want forests, transparency, prevention and recruitment of permanent firefighters.

Madam President, the Prespes Agreement is an invalid agreement, a tool of geopolitical interests and irredentism. A product of coercion and political manipulation dictated by the Trump administration to the then Tsipras government and imposed without democratic legitimacy, with the purchase of MPs and blackmail, both in Greece and in the neighboring country. It is based on a false history, which the leaders of Skopje for decades built a false national identity of the supposed descendants of the ancient Macedonians, in order to unite in this way the so different national identities of the people who lived in the region: Turks, Serbs, Slavs, Albanians, Roma, Greeks, Bulgarians. Neither Macedonian identity nor Macedonian nationality ever existed in ancient Roman Scupi or in the Yugoslav province of Vardarska of the previous century. The Greek people were never asked to accept the pseudo-Macedonia. We will never accept the deliberate falsification of our history. The unacceptable reference in the report to a dispute resolution model is an insult to historical truth and I am voting against it. Macedonia is Greek.

Madam President, the report on Albania conceals the grim reality experienced by the Hellenism of Northern Epirus. Areas are trampled, Albanian settlers settle, houses are demolished, as in Himara and Vlora, supposedly in the name of tourism development, with state cover and at the expense of legal owners. The Greek minority is shrinking demographically not only due to immigration, but also due to falsified censuses, according to which the authorities discourage or reject the declaration of Greek identity. The use of the Greek language is severely restricted, schools are closed, while teaching and cultural expression are blocked outside the narrowly recognized ... (incomprehensible words, technical problem). Violations of fundamental rights are documented by international organisations. The OSCE, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch report political persecution, restriction of press freedom, police surveillance and unequal access to justice. Yet the European Council and the High Representative celebrated Albania's performance in Luxembourg last April. This report now congratulates them. It is unacceptable and I am voting against it.

Madam President, China is not a trading partner. He's a commercial competitor. First, European industries and multinationals massively relocated their production to China to exploit cheap labor and raw materials. Then, China built shipping fleets, bought ports such as that of Piraeus, in total participates in 10 European ports, established a regime of labour exploitation with contractors and limited labour rights, with accidents at work and accidents, environmental pollution, financial fraud in the customs of the European Union. Three petitions on COSCO can be found in the Committee on Petitions. No response since February. In Greece, he bought politicians from almost all parties, including journalists. The Chinese ambassador himself intervened several times in the country's politics. To get the European Prosecutor to check the Greek scandal with COSCO, see how many will be found guilty. All this signals the loss of sovereignty. But you're not listening. You're not listening. That's a problem. Take back all of Europe's infrastructure from China.

Mr President, the report shows that the European Investment Bank does not serve the real needs of citizens, but the interests of big business and strong economies. Small and medium-sized enterprises, farmers and the self-employed find their doors permanently closed. The Bank talks about support for small and medium-sized enterprises, but the funds go through commercial banks that choose their large clients without transparency and eventually end up with the same few. Its procedures are cut and sewn for the big players and for state structures of states, mainly developed, with a strong banking system, i.e. technical criteria, documentation, compatibility with ESG standards. All this can't touch the small and medium-sized ones. And now, on the pretext of security, the EIB is paving the way for the financing of the war industry instead of social infrastructure, and indeed with extra money it will ask the citizens. This is a bank of lobbies and inequality. We demand a change of strategy, fairness and equal distribution based on the real needs of citizens.

Madam President, behind the green transition lies an industry that sweeps mountains, forests and villages to set up private wind and photovoltaic parks, serving their profit – no public plan, no limitation on the number of permits, completely unregulated. In Greece, ridges are uprooted in Natura areas, forests are uprooted and roads are opened for wind turbines that serve neither energy self-sufficiency nor citizens. On the contrary, they cut off the electricity to the farmers. The green growth that I defend serves people, animals, biodiversity. Not the selling off of every natural resource. I call for the exclusion of renewable energy from sensitive ecosystems and the implementation of Regulation (EU) 2024/1999 on nature restoration. I put two written questions to the Commission: to recognise Greece as vulnerable due to the dramatic 37% reduction of the environmental equivalent in Attica from fires and to demand a national map of areas of absolute protection with a ban on their business exploitation, the freezing of permits and targeted reforestation. I'm waiting for answers.

Mr President, Mrs Kallas, the trade war is intensifying. There is a plan: a trade corridor from Taiwan to Europe, through the Middle East, Iran, Israel, Gaza – to reach the beach and bypass China’s silk road. People pay for it with blood. Gaza is being bombed, children are dying of starvation. Blockade is a war crime and you do nothing to lift it. Rima Hassan, our colleague, was abducted in international waters. She is joined by 11 other Freedom Flotilla activists. Thousands of activists, including Greek MPs and MEPs, were blocked at the March to Gaza because they wanted to deliver humanitarian aid. We have sent letters to Presidents Metsola, vor der Leyen, Mr Costa, Mrs Kallas. We have called for Article 2 to be invoked, for the EU-Israel agreement to be suspended now. People all over the world are mobilizing for peace, but you don't listen to them. Why is it? Because your mind is not on the peoples, it's on your profits. It's a disgrace!

Mr President, Mr Tzitzikostas, public transport in a country like Greece, which has privatised everything, is a good target. But we are talking here about competitive and sustainable transport, while the main thing is the safety of passengers and workers. Of course, you can see that the EPP blockade did not work and the four MEPs who are independent were finally able to manage to talk about Tempi in the next issue. So I will tell you that two years after the state crime in Tempi, 57 dead, no answer. The freight train that collided has not been investigated, its cargo remains secret, the videos have disappeared, the responsibilities have been covered. The government is interfering in justice and the European Union is silent. Not a single security measure has been taken since then; not one. The same is true in the sea and in the air. Private investors reduce costs and together security – on ships, on planes, everywhere. People pay with their lives. This is not only a Greek shame; This is European complicity and it needs to change.

Madam President, Commissioner, in Greece the rule of law is not simply undermined; It has essentially been abolished. The Mitsotakis government controls the judiciary by appointing the leadership of the highest courts, while openly intervening and covering up cases such as the state crime in Tempi – even with police interventions at the scene of the crime, to remove evidence and responsibilities. It controls the media and funds oligarchs with public money, who in turn control information, image, social consensus. It allocates European funds to a closed caste, such as the OPEKEPE scandal and the 747 contract for trains. Public money without accountability, with direct assignments. There is impunity. No case can be brought to justice. Everything closes, everything goes into the archive. What is the Commission doing? Does he close his eyes to the EPP's chosen and personal friend, Mrs von der Leyen? The Mendes report is correct, but it is not enough. Sanctions are needed, not just findings.

Mr President, the Committee on Petitions is the main institutional forum through which European citizens express their concerns, concerns and problems. Our role is clear: defend and promote their rights without discounts. It is disappointing that a right-wing coalition within the committee is acting to close petitions that bother right-wing governments. It is also disappointing that the majority of Member States systematically choose not to answer the questions posed to them by this committee. Accountability to citizens cannot be selective. It must be universal and unavoidable. That is why I proposed, at the very least, the ‘name and shame’ procedure for those Member States that refuse to cooperate, to respond and to be held accountable. Unfortunately, most members of the political groups chose to protect their governments. We, however, will insist, we will continue to demand nominal accountability to defend the rights of ordinary people.

Mr President, mental health at work is a major problem of our time. In Greece, thousands of workers come home every day exhausted, anxious, scared. It is not a coincidence, it is the result of a policy that crushes the worker in the name of competitiveness. The Mitsotakis government with its choices consciously burdens mental health, abolishes controls, dissolves the hours with six- to six-hours, legalizes employer arbitrariness. They're not just indifferent, they're dangerous. They put profits above people. The European Parliament cannot remain apathetic. The European Union must treat governments that act as an extension of the interests of capital. We cannot speak of European values and at the same time be silent in the face of social disaster. We need binding regulations. Every company should ensure the mental health of its employees. We must legislate for work with rights, eight-hour-five-40-hour, for the dignity, the life of citizens in their daily lives.

Madam President, before our eyes is a heinous international crime, the genocide of the Palestinian people. 53 000 Palestinians have already been massacred to build the Riviera announced by Trump. You are the European Union of complicity and silence. When civilians are killed, you silence. When children are killed, you silence. Behind this silence, your bloody gains. Mitsotakis, the EPP's nominee in Greece, refuses to defend international criminal law, international humanitarian law, pretends to be an honest mediator between murderer and victim. In fact, he does military exercises, public relations and business with Israel. The people of Greece who have experienced the Nazi holocaust and genocide are not silent. He protests by standing up to the criminal Netanyahu and his associates. Stop the genocide now. Break off relations with the murderous state. Recognition of the State of Palestine. Freedom in Palestine.