kfajdsl/voxpopuli huggingface dataset:
not an old fashioned discussion about culture and languages. i know what i am talking about;
mr president all i can do is stand and support everything that tefan fle has said to you.
the issues and concerns have been raised by him on the ground and by me in what i have said and in my discussions with the foreign minister.
we are very clear in wanting and desiring to see the prime minister the ministries deal with these issues in the way that we would expect for a candidate country of the european union.
we also agree that this is an important moment;
it is an important moment for an important country an important country to us an important country in the region and an important country in the world.
but it is also a challenge to us to continue to reach out and to continue with our dialogue and with our work.
i hope that we can both rely on the support of this parliament to do that and to continue to work to that objective in the coming weeks and months.
one would expect mr erdoan to be more understanding and tolerant of those who find themselves today in the same position as he personally was in a decade ago.
we fully support the demonstrators because they have the right to demonstrate and we call upon the turkish government and the police forces to refrain from any further acts of violence and suppression.
i have a word of advice for the government as well as for the demonstrators there can be no democracy in turkey without giving the turks and the kurds their fundamental freedoms.
four people have been killed thousands are suffering from injuries thousands more have been detained in questionable conditions including the lawyers that stood up for the protestors yesterday.
police aggression must be stopped and investigated cultural and historic sites have to be preserved arrested protestors must be released without charges a dialogue and debate must take place for a healthy civil society and opposition possibly with the help of the eeas.
a big achievement indeed. ironically today this middle class represents a large majority of the people that are out in the streets protesting against what they believe to be a violation of their freedoms and secular lifestyle.
i think it is safe to say that we are witnessing efforts towards the development of a non secular political islam in turkey which creates absolute terror among the secular turks that we see now in the streets. so the question is are we moving away from the model of secular democracy in turkey?
it is very difficult for him to back off now so i think that we must put our confidence and faith in president gl.
despite putting his signature on the alcohol ban legislation he is the only politician that has shown willingness for compromise and reconciliation.
all promises of dialogue have been empty promises so far.
i urge the high representative as well as the commissioner to step up their efforts to use all tools to pressurise the turkish government to stop their authoritarian rule and the violence.
the turkish government needs to realise that there is a great chance for them in the protests if they embrace pluralism if they encourage civil society and if they involve the population but going against the human and citizens' rights of environmentalists students lawyers workers artists and everybody
the people in turkey need our support and we have to give them a very strong signal of our support and a very strong signal that the european union will not accept such violence.
indeed these actions have already been condemned by president gl and deputy prime minister arinc.
what is still not clear is whether the demonstrations are a reliable indication of widespread and simmering popular discontent that will continue to fester.
it clearly needs to be addressed.
it would be a shame if the good legacy of atatrk were to be diluted in particular his modernisation tolerance democratisation and his removal of religious influence from political life while remaining a strong devotee of islam.
more recently we have seen adherence to nato and great progress towards western liberal democracy and of course market capitalism which has delivered enormous economic progress.
in any case i hope that the great changes in the shape and direction of the european union that will have to take place in the next few years with an end to ever closer union and a looser more flexible european union focused on the single market rather than political integration will mean that this sort of european union will more easily accommodate a country such as turkey.
the people in turkey are experiencing the dictatorship of a majority their voices unheard as a result of restrictions in media freedom the high threshold for political parties and the government's winner takes all mentality.
but the government which presents itself as full of ambition and confidence internationally must act responsibly.
this does not mean arresting lawyers fining the media and inciting people.
personal threats by the president the prime minister and the akp party towards the media social media financial institutions and all of the citizens that they claim to represent is worrying dangerous and misguided.
we have addressed the problems with the rule of law separation of powers fundamental rights and the need to respect the rights of women and the media.
are we going to be inactive? aren't we going to do something?
turkey is not a third country.
standards. so we will keep calling upon the russian authorities to cooperate fully in this investigation and particularly with the organisation for the prohibition of chemical
reform. and now let's have a look at the situation as you have requested in russia and particularly the poisoning of the opposition leader mr alexei navalny which has shocked
first by adopting sanctions.
our determination is strong and
in need. they do not seem to rely very much on or trust a lot their institutions and government. and finally an independent and credible investigation into the explosion should be conducted and we stand ready
focus as you have requested on the difficult situation in lebanon.
all of us. i would like to take this opportunity to transmit once again my best wishes to him and his family and the fact that we condemn in the strongest possible terms this assassination attempt. because this is the word we have to use assassination
mr navalny. the use of chemical weapons by anyone anywhere and at any time and under any circumstances constitutes a serious breach of international law and international human rights
this is what we can do and that's what we are doing.
sometimes you ask for a decision that belongs to the member states for which i'm sorry but i cannot feel responsible.
we will allocate the resources we have but you know that we are at the end of the financial perspective and as long as we don't have new resources we cannot do more than we are doing.
don't ask for things that are out of the competences of the european institutions.
i hope that all member states can agree on a common viewpoint on this matter in the interest of all eu citizens.
it creates uncertainties for businesses and cross border workers if member states apply different quarantine lengths or definitions of essential travel.
it also does not make sense from an internal market perspective.
all eu citizens are equal also in the eyes of the virus.
after their holidays belgian tourists returning from spain faced fourteen days of quarantine.
it creates an idea of arbitrariness amongst our citizens while it is very important that everyone keeps following the guidelines.
for us belgians spain is a red zone in its entirety but not so for the french authorities.
we cannot explain these diverging practices to our citizens.
it does not make sense from a health perspective.
a dutch person who visits a spanish village faces the same risk of infection as a greek swedish or slovakian person who went to the same village.
luckily the commission indeed proposed earlier this month that member states would use common criteria and thresholds to base their travel restrictions on.
member states should follow the ecdc's recommendations and agree on common rules for returning travellers identical colour coding and common criteria.
our relations have been under strain for a long time and not because of the eu's actions but because of turkey's actions.
we need to stop the accession negotiations and build a strong new partnership with turkey.
yes we need to stay on speaking terms but let's be honest and acknowledge that this turkey cannot join europe.
listening to the comments of colleagues across party lines for me four points are very clear.
second we fully support the council's clear position of solidarity with our member states greece and cyprus.
all of us are extremely concerned by the very real risk of a direct military confrontation.
fourth at the next european council the option of additional sanctions against turkey must be openly discussed in the light of continued turkish aggression.
i very much hope that the ongoing mediation efforts will bear fruit.
but as the high representative just underlined further concrete steps towards creating an environment conducive to dialogue in good faith are needed now.
third we condemn the turkish drilling activities in the exclusive economic zones of greece and cyprus and we consider them illegal.
ever since we see peaceful protesters being arrested beaten up tortured disappeared' and even killed.
finally i would i like to make a call to all my colleagues here in the european parliament.
mr president for a long time belarus was seen as a black hole on the european map not only because of its dictatorship but also because of the weak and unambitious eu policy towards that country.
we have all seen that freedom's face in belarus is female.
the belarusian people deserve no less than swift determined and principled action by the european union.
the eu must lead the initiative for an international investigation into the poisoning of navalny and into the breach of russia's international commitments by using chemical weapons.
but we need another important step to withdraw from the nord stream two project.
high representative the restrictive measures targeted against those responsible for the repression in belarus should be immediately implemented they are certainly overdue.
august as they were conducted in flagrant violation of all internationally recognised standards and thirdly that we condemn the ongoing intimidation and disproportionate use of force towards peaceful protesters participants of strikes and members of the coordination council.
we must also strongly encourage the lebanese authorities to undertake critical structural reforms.
it killed over two hundred people injured seven zero and destroyed one third of the city.
secondly immediate assistance from the eu copernicus satellite service and thirdly donations of money medical supplies food and equipment. we must continue helping the lebanese population at this time of need.
the blast hit both lebanese as well as refugee and migrant communities from syria who make up thirty of lebanon's population. i'm proud to see the support provided by the european union to lebanon.
it is time to impose broader sectoral sanctions. let us start with stopping nord stream.
turkey. please make the difference because these are completely different
ngos and through united nations organisations.
things. this money goes to provide schools and health care and social security and even food for hundreds of thousands of the refugees that are in turkey. so the money in some cases goes through the turkish government but in most of the cases it goes directly to the interested people through
things. thank you very much for all your contributions.
i have to say that tensions have been continuing to rise over the summer.
and turkey is one of these elements that changes our environment.
we still fail to see turkey delivering on its promises to take effective measures on a strengthening the independence and impartiality of the judiciary.
this is the softest way of saying that the situation has not been improving.
in terms of domestic developments in turkey we perceive a worrying backsliding in the area of rule of law and fundamental freedoms that continues to raise our concerns.
this debate is very timely.
the eu and i as high representative will continue to do everything we can to support the efforts to achieve this comprehensive settlement under united nations auspices in accordance with the relevant united nations security council resolutions and in line with the principles on which we have founded
i strongly believe in the need for a solid relationship anchored in a common agenda of partnership that respects mutual interest and is based on values but this requires us to look at the full relationship in a comprehensive
but through dialogue and negotiations.
i've spent the last few months including the summer trying to facilitate de escalation efforts but the least i can say is that more efforts are needed;
we cannot be engaged in any other conversation with russia besides the one in which together in the european union we hold russia responsible and demand clear answers and explanations from moscow.
europe's economic relations with russia must depend on acceptable political relations not the other way around.
for years now we have seen a consistent trend in russia elimination of opposition and critics of the regime with the most brutal tactics.
we cannot accept that in europe in the twenty first century we witness the use of chemical weapons against political opponents. we must act united in our response and i'm sorry to say that the representatives of the german eu council presidency have left the room before this debate.
and we must act in line with our words. indeed in this situation we cannot conduct business deals or carry out strategic infrastructure projects with moscow.
the eu needs a new approach towards belarus which includes termination of any cooperation with the belarusian regime in particular freezing official membership of the eastern partnership initiative and instead supporting the democratic opposition and civil society.
the situation in belarus has become a matter of geopolitics. we witness hybrid intervention from the russian side as it seeks to preserve its influence and pursues the continuous ambition of incorporating belarus into the russian federation. we have to stop russia's poisoning politics focused on violating the territorial integrity
at the same time let's admit something this conflict will not be solved by one sided blaming or bilateral escalation.
first stop the escalation and return to the status quo ante.
we should urge our turkish colleagues to gain more credibility as a foreign power and as a democracy.
stop fighting over fossil fuels of the nineteenth century!
and fourth and i will end with this we should extend the green deal to the mediterranean.
without credibility in terms of democracy in ankara we will not be able to avoid conflicts in the future.
the legal claims of neither side are solid enough to convince the world and this union nor are the nationalist shouting matches that we witnessed in the committee on foreign affairs just last week on both sides. what will solve the problem are four things.
second start negotiating a comprehensive strategic deal on the eastern mediterranean which will prevent similar conflicts in the future.
for me it's very clear with everything that happens with russia and colleagues have said it already we need mr borrell a new eu russia strategy one of sticks and carrots and we need to adopt an ambitious eu human rights sanctions regime.
we ask russia to investigate in a transparent and impartial manner the assassination attempt on alexei navalny and we ask russia to bring to justice those responsible for it on whatever level they might be.
we know very well that at least greece france estonia and many other countries will never accept the idea of turkey in the eu.
it is time for the people to decide about their own future. it is time to support belarus on its own way towards democracy.
also private actors need to be held accountable.
as stated by my colleague katalin cseh slow sanctions are no sanctions. those responsible for violence and oppression as well as lukashenko himself must be punished not encouraged.
european telecom companies taking orders from the regime and cutting mobile internet is of course unacceptable.
it is not a question for putin or anyone else.
belarus and its repressive regime exists in a geopolitical space with its big neighbour that does not provide support to basic fundamental freedoms.
we need a thorough investigation of the deaths ongoing disappearances abductions violence and electoral fraud.
it is important that we in the eu provide targeted support to free media and independent civil society in belarus.
the declaration made by the high representative on behalf of the eu on the presidential elections has been supported by candidate and potential candidate countries in the western balkans.
if ever we were serious about the eu's strategic autonomy this is the moment to put that theoretical academic concept into practice and to do so by cancelling nord stream.
the kremlin's denial however is not a reason to fail to hold moscow accountable for a very serious violation of international law.
but navalny's popular support his intimidation and arrest by the authorities and now his poisoning actually show the opposite.
following this assassination attempt navalny is now added to a long list of russian citizens who have been a thorn in the side of the authorities.
we all have much to lose from an actual conflict.
journalists human rights defenders and opposition politicians have to be able to conduct their legitimate activities without fear for their lives.
characterised by mistrust caused by russia's actions in violation of international law in ukraine intervention in syria the spread of disinformation and fake news.
of particular concern is the high level support by russia to extreme anti european forces in the european union.
nevertheless some pragmatic engagement with russia should continue in areas where it is still possible and necessary for the interest of global governance. this is why the five guiding principles for the eu policy towards russia should serve as a base for a much needed new comprehensive strategy towards russia.
a strategy that should primarily be based on the need for respect for international law and human rights standards while strengthening peace and security.
madam president i obviously welcome the fact that some attempt is now being made to coordinate the covid response but it's pretty incredible that we're six months into the most serious pandemic in living memory in one of the richest regions in the world with a massive institutional bureaucracy and we're only getting around to it now. we cannot even compare covid statistics because of the different arrangements in place in member states.
so is it any wonder that eu citizens are looking on in disbelief.
this is a single virus so why are there so many different responses?
people want to follow the rules but it's difficult when the rules change and when they are inconsistent.
the ecdc all along advised against border controls but they were ignored and the problem you see is that what it needed was a politically coordinated response but it didn't come. it needed solidarity but you can't develop solidarity overnight.
there was no solidarity when irish single mothers paid the price of munich stockholders in the financial crisis and no solidarity for the thousands of desperate migrants on the greek island so it's no wonder there was no solidarity on covid.
it's an awful pity we're coming to this situation now but i hope we learned the lessons of it.
covid has clearly intensified the protectionist mind set in europe and has forced eu citizens to think once again in terms of national borders.
while protecting health must be our first priority this crisis must not be used as an excuse for actions against the single market.
the single market has been fundamental in improving the competitiveness of our economies and prosperity for our citizens.
the pandemic has made it necessary to rethink many of our policies but it doesn't mean rethinking our values.
from finalising trade deals to calling to completely halt the european union integration path of turkey.
this would have immense consequences on turkish citizens that see the european union as one of the rare possibilities to change their worsening situation for the better.
we should first and foremost call for a de escalation of tensions and dialogue.
i do hope that leaders can draw common conclusions also when it comes to defining our policy towards turkey in general.
new presidential elections must be held. we must insist on targeted sanctions against the perpetrators of acts of violence and repression including lukashenko and reassess our relations with belarus.
it must be very clear that we expect russia to abstain from igniting further violence or repression also given its latest financial assistance to the regime. belarusian citizens as much as all others deserve to live in a country where their fundamental freedoms and human rights are respected where those in government serve the people and where people's health and safety and economic and social prosperity are the guideline for all state activity.
the people of belarus will not give up and they are heroes of europe because they fight for a european way of life.
now we call for an end to the threats the opening of further dialogue and finding a lasting and sustainable solution to this conflict possibly via the icj in the hague.
we need to deescalate now.
but let me be honest it is very difficult to see turkey as an eu candidate member.
accession negotiations should be stopped and the budget allocation also for this process should be put to better use. we need the money for other things.
i don't want to do that.
however the eu can still do many things in this situation. most importantly it must not be blinded by the role of russia in this conflict.
while putin offers military support to shore up lukashenko's regime europe must offer an alternative prospect of a free society rule of law democracy and freedom.
but how credible is the european union in doing so if it cannot speak with a single voice on this subject and if it tolerates lukashenkostyle authoritarianism amongst its ranks like the prime minister of hungary viktor orbn who was the last official visitor to belarus as a symbolic move and who used this occasion to praise lukashenko's regime and to bash the european union?
ever since he has been busy constructing a regime which looks very much like that of lukashenko's suppressing press freedom rigging elections stifling the opposition and building a corrupt system.
they dared to dream about freedom something which is absolutely natural to us and yet they are branded as foreign agents they are called undesirable organisations and they are dehumanised on the propaganda tv.
anyone who claims that europe doesn't care about russia listen to these words.
we want a strategic partnership with russia but we want this strategy to be a strategy towards democracy and towards civil rights a strategy for people and not for corrupt russian elites and not for a gas project to undermine our neighbours not for a nuclear plant in hungary and not a strategy on how to harbour the assets of corrupt
individuals in the european union.
until this strategy exists we need truth. we need truth about the poisoning. for that we wrote to mr borrell and the german presidency and called for an international investigation.
what there is is an eu foreign service the external action service apparently with thirty missions and what that is is a gigantic gravy train for eu insiders and their hangers on.
just eighty four meps voted in favour. this is shameful and i hope it will be very different in the next parliament.
mr president libya was the most recent conflict directly concerning member states and just eleven of the member states supported the un resolution.
my amendment in june proposed that external action service personnel be restricted to ten weeks' paid holiday a year.