Debate contributions by Sebastião BUGALHO

Madam President, on behalf of the EPP Group, I would like to move an oral amendment to paragraph 16, recitals T and Q. To paragraph 16 and recital T, requesting a change in each, of the word 'Hungary' into 'Hungarian Government'; and in recital Q changing 'Hungary's' to 'Hungarian Government's'.

Mr President, Commissioner, relations between the European Union and Cambodia date back to 1997 and are based on a cooperation agreement which provides for the promotion of democracy and human rights. Unfortunately, today there is a notorious setback, especially since 2017, which we must condemn and not ignore. The path taken by the Cambodian regime obliges us here to demand the release of all political prisoners and an immediate end to the oppression of civil liberties. I remember, in particular, the central Cambodian organisation, which was particularly persecuted after it denounced practices that blatantly flout the labour rights that this European Union defends here and in the rest of the world. There is a proverb in Cambodia that says: If you are patient in the moment of anger, you will save yourself 100 days of tears. The Cambodian authorities should follow the wisdom of their people and reverse this course and save so many unnecessary tears. The Union must be ever more vigilant in cases such as this and urge Cambodia to comply, without delay or reservation, with the letter and spirit of an agreement that brings us closer, rather than insisting on this path, which only distances us.

Mr President, dear friends, Commissioner Schinas, the first colleague I met in this Parliament is Cypriot. He's in this room. The first question that my colleague asked me was: Have you ever been to Cyprus? I told him no and he asked again: "Are you married yet?". I told him not yet and he promptly told me: "Then comes the honeymoon to Cyprus". For me, Cyprus is this unique complicity between patriotism and companionship, between openness to the other, without ever forgetting who we are. Europe has much to learn from Cypriot solidarity, because there is no wiser solidarity than that of those who suffer. And my friends, Cyprus has been suffering for far too long. Invaded for 50 years, permanently occupied for 41 years, Cypriots are the only state in the European Union deprived of its own territory and it is important to be clear: anyone who is unable to recognise it cannot be part of this Union. This Parliament regrets that in 2024 there are grandchildren who cannot know the house where their grandparents and children grew up who no longer believe in seeing peace in their parents’ lifetimes. It's up to us to do more for it. Fifty years ago, Portugal rediscovered democracy. Fifty years later, it is time for Cyprus to rediscover its homes. Against the instrumentalisation of refugees, against the illegal occupation of territory, against the violation of international law, Europe is on the side of Cyprus, because Europe is always on the side of Europeans.

Madam President, High Representative, 83 years ago, in the middle of the Second World War, the American Prime Minister and President met in the Atlantic Ocean. Continental Europe was in Hitler's hands, but these two men pledged that day to do everything they could to get the occupied countries back their freedom. 83 years later, in the midst of the war in Ukraine, that is the spirit we will have to maintain. Peace, in our time, must be peace for our children, and Mr Putin's peace will be nothing more than the possibility of a new war. Europe does not cease to be Europe because it finds a less European America, but we must not confuse the need to maintain our principles with the illusion that everything can remain the same. What we're going to have to do because of Trump, we're going to have to do after Trump, if we don't complete the defense union and the strategic compass, we're going to find out too late that the first condition for the growth and investment that we all want is security. The economic priority of this continent must be a peace that is not Russian. Let's not wait for the American president to see it before we do.

Madam President, in the days of Franco and Salazar, parliaments did not talk about tragedies. In democracy we can and should talk about what is not going well, and if there is one thing we have all agreed on, it is that something has not gone well. The warnings arrived late, it is true, the national emergency and the activation of the EU Civil Protection Mechanism also arrived late. Recognizing the responsibilities of regional authorities is also recognizing that when they fail, the state must be present. In Valencia, for too many people, this was not the case. It is about them that I will speak. Lo ocurrido en España no fue solmente un natural disaster. Lo que ocurriendo en España es también un disaster democratic. A country of Europe in which the president of the Gobierno dice ‘yo ayudo a la comunidad autónoma siempre y cuando la oposición me apruebe los presupuestos’ es una tragedia, in particular for the Valencians, pero also for the Europeans. A Presidente del Gobierno who uses the perdition of lives to gain political capital is a tragedia for the Spanish, for the Europeans. Against the separation of powers. Contra la Constitución Española. Against human dignidad. Pedro Sánchez es hoy más que never un Orbán ibérico. Let's not ignore it.

Madam President, Commissioner, in August 2022, Michelle Bachelet presented a report at the United Nations. The report is clear: Xinjiang is a zone of practices that undermine Uighur rights, where "restrictions and the more general deprivation of fundamental rights can constitute international crimes, in particular crimes against humanity". I would stress 'crimes against humanity'. The European Commission gave an important signal five years ago when it recognised China as a systemic rival. During this parliamentary term, we must do more. The idealism that made us treat an enemy as a partner – which is what we did with Vladimir Putin for a decade – cannot and should not be repeated. When we hear the UN talk about arbitrary and discriminatory restrictions on human rights and fundamental freedoms, we have to recognize one piece of evidence: China is not only a systemic rival; is a trade adversary, is a political adversary and is a moral adversary. Ilham Tohti and Gulshan Abbas are two names that force us not to forget. I congratulate all the political groups that have contributed to this resolution so that this is not the case.

Very briefly, Mr João Oliveira, whom I thank for the question, I have to tell you that if you ask me which side I am on in relation to the housing crisis, I am on the only side where there are solutions: on the side of Europe. So yes, we are on the side of fiscal responsibility. Yes, we are on the side of the social market economy. Yes, we stand by our membership of the Union, because we believe that if we want Europe to help us solve our problems, we will not be a problem for Europe. And allow me a short provocation: How many houses have you handed over to the government that your party supported in Parliament? How many will mine deliver in five years? I'm sure you won't ask for one on that day. blue card.

Mr President, Vice-President Schinas, my generation is the first since the Second World War that does not feel that it will live better than its parents – it just hopes that it will not have to live worse. My parents knew that by joining the European Union, they could live better than my grandparents. My grandparents knew that, with the arrival of democracy, they would live better than their parents. We don't. Today, more than half of the citizens of the 37 richest OECD countries have housing as their first concern, above health and above education. In Portugal, 40% of monthly income goes to housing expenses, 10% above what is considered affordable. That is why we must look at housing as a fundamental right and as a political priority, not against private property, but by pushing it forward, not by depriving Member States of their competences, but by not depriving the Union of its responsibility to serve its citizens. To quote Ursula von der Leyen, ‘if you care about Europeans, you have to care about Europe’. In the last 20 years, my generation has gone through security, economic, health and monetary crises. Despite this, we remain believers in the European project. To meet the challenges of the next 20 years – demography, productivity, growth – we must do everything we can to keep Europeans to a minimum: a roof. To produce more, we must have a home to return to at the end of the day. In order to have more children, we have to have a home to raise them into adulthood. To innovate more, we need to have the most fundamental: A house to start with.

Thank you, Madam President. I would like to present another oral amendment, that reads 'Urges the European Union and its Member States to recognise Edmundo González Urrutia as the winner of the election and as the next constitutional and legitimate President of Venezuela as of 10 January 2025;'.

Madam President, I would like to present an oral amend to this resolution, and this will need to be presented first. This amendment reads 'Recognises Edmundo González Urrutia as the winner of the election and the next constitutional President of Venezuela as of 10 January 2025 and also recognises María Corina Machado as the leader of the democratic forces in Venezuela, since she was elected at the primaries of the Unitary Platform in 2023 with 92.35 % of the vote;'. This is one amendment.

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, the world has seen and understood that Nicolás Maduro did not win the presidential elections of 28 June 2024, he lost them! For us Europeans and Democrats, there is one thing that needs to be clear today: If we limit ourselves to recognizing the defeated without recognizing the victor, we are benefiting the one who lost and does not want to leave power. If we keep waiting for something that we know will never happen, for the Maduro regime to publish the minutes that go against the Maduro regime, we know that we will wait as long as Maduro wants to stay in power, forever. And we, dear colleagues, cannot do that, we cannot allow that. We Europeans and Democrats, who have a community of more than a million nationals in Venezuela, defend Venezuelan freedom, not in spite of our communities, but because of our communities. At the entrance to this Parliament, no hall which we go through every day to enter here, it is written in 24 different languages: Democracy in Action. To honour this Parliament, we cannot stand still. We can't not act. We, 720 MEPs, represent here the most diverse assembly of elected representatives on the planet, with more nationalities, with more sensitivities, with more differences. But we have one thing in common, each and every one of us, it is what underpins our mandate, it is voting, it is electoral transparency, it is the sovereignty of our ballot boxes. We cannot deny others what has brought us here. We cannot deny others what we would not give up for ourselves. If Venezuelans, under a regime of oppression and dictatorship, have obtained such a clear majority around a democrat, what will be said of the European Parliament if it does not get a majority for this resolution? A friend once described Venezuela to me as a constant spring. Let us make this Parliament a constant defender of freedom.