misclassified/meps_speeches_with_translation.csv huggingface dataset:
Speaker: Hannah NEUMANN (Germany — Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)
Political group: Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance
Date: 2020-11-24
Debate: The geopolitical implications of the Abraham Accords in the Middle East region (debate)

  Hannah Neumann,  on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group. – Madam President, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain have opened diplomatic relations with Israel. Yesterday, Benjamin Netanyahu – though not officially confirmed – visited Saudi Arabia. In a region that has been suffering from conflict and confrontation for decades, such a dialogue between former antagonists is a good sign, and yes, this region really needs such good signs. 
Therefore, one could actually wholeheartedly welcome the Abraham Accords if – and that’s the thing – they would live up to their stated goal to build peace. But – and that is also true, Mr White – recent developments are worrisome. The UAE has advanced a major arms deal with the USA as part of the bargain, as if we needed more weapons in the Middle East. Israel has stepped up its settlement policy against Palestinians and the human rights violations in Bahrain continue rather unnoticed.
So a deal that only serves to build alliances against other neighbours or to arm the region even further is neither going to build peace, nor should it be supported by the European Union. But, on the other hand, every step that the UAE, Israel, Bahrain and hopefully many, many others take towards de-escalation and peace should have our full support. 
So, very much in line with what you said, Mr Borrell, I think it’s time for a reality check. Let’s take the signatories at their word and use the new regional dynamic and the change in the US administration to initiate a new EU-led initiative to work towards an inclusive Israeli and Palestinian peace deal.
Speaker: Hannah NEUMANN (Germany — Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)
Political group: Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance
Date: 2020-11-24
Debate: The fight against impunity for crimes committed against journalists around the world (debate)

  Hannah Neumann,  on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group. – Madam President, journalists expose what others want to conceal. They shed light on situations that others want to keep in the dark. So a climate of impunity for crimes against journalism is as if we switch that light off and wander in darkness.
But it doesn’t always need a murder to silence a journalist’s voice. Authoritarian, and sadly even some democratic, regimes and governments have found other ways to muzzle media freedom. They are silencing journalists by anti-terror laws in the Philippines, by state interference in corona coverage in Tajikistan, or by the denial of permits and the withdrawal of accreditations, as in Belarus. These crimes may not be as obvious as killings, but the effects are very much the same: killing the freedom of the press, depriving people of their right to information and silencing critical voice after critical voice.
That is why I want our EU institutions and each and every one of our Member States to make sure that there is no impunity and no way for these governments to get away with these laws and restrictions. Commissioner, support is good, but I also want to see severe consequences if support is not changing anything. I want to see that within Europe and in each and every corner of this world.
Speaker: Hannah NEUMANN (Germany — Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)
Political group: Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance
Date: 2020-10-22
Debate: Gender Equality in EU’s foreign and security policy (debate)

  Hannah Neumann,  rapporteur for the opinion of the Committee on Foreign Affairs. – Mr President, when Operation Sophia, the one that was actually still allowed to do search and rescue in the Mediterranean, was launched in 2015, there were long discussions about the operation plans because it was different, a new mission. Most of the discussion was about what kind of weapons this mission would need to overpower people on the boats and what kind of specific training to do that. At some point, it was a woman who asked about sanitary napkins and diapers because there would be women and small children on the boats and they would be on the ships with us for quite some days. In the end, the sanitary napkins and the diapers were used much more than the weapons.
This example just shows how more diversity leads to better decisions and, yes, sometimes it is that stereotypical. The same is true when we speak about peace negotiations because peace deals last longer if women are involved, because societies are more peaceful if they are gender equal, but still to this day negotiation tables and the whole field of peace and security is a male domain. I can’t even remember how many rooms I walked into in the last 15 years where I was the only woman, either being ignored or stared at curiously. 
That’s why we dedicated large parts of this report to our own EU institutions and our own EU budget because there we actually have 100% of the power to change it and no excuses. That’s why we ask for 50% of women in CSDP missions in our own services. That’s why we want a specific part of the foreign budget to go into projects that empower women and girls to claim their spot because they know how it works.
There was an amazing spirit during our negotiations in the committee because I think we all agree that we want an EU foreign policy that is for everybody. But now it’s time to change the reality out there and to really speed things up on women, peace and security. That’s why, Ms Urpilainen, but also Mr Borrell and the whole Commission, you had better come up with an ambitious gender action plan towards the end of this year.
Speaker: Hannah NEUMANN (Germany — Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)
Political group: Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance
Date: 2020-10-07
Debate: Situation in Iran (debate)

  Hannah Neumann (Verts/ALE).   – Madam President, we have talked for nearly an hour now about the threats to the JCPOA, about global power dynamics, about national repression. While all of this is true and very frustrating, there is also hope in Iran.
There were massive protests of young people last year in the streets, taking their claims to the streets. Just a few weeks ago, women of Iran have started a ‘Me Too’ movement. There is even a ‘Fight for the Future’ group in the country. Young people in Iran are not living on a different planet. They are part of global movements, and they challenge the regime. Yes, they have to face crackdowns, oppression, repression, torture. They are in prison, some of them are executed. But they are coming back again, and again, and again. And the old ones who have gone through this for decades and decades have not stopped.
As long as people in Iran still have the courage to face this regime, it is our duty to support their cause and protect them. And while it is so important that the EU engages in regional dynamics, as Reinhard Bütikofer said, we can only do so if we also manage to engage the people that suffer under the various regimes in the region.
Speaker: Hannah NEUMANN (Germany — Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)
Political group: Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance
Date: 2020-09-17
Debate: The situation in the Philippines, including the case of Maria Ressa

  Hannah Neumann (Verts/ALE).   – Madam President, I think we have the wrong order because I was actually the one negotiating these resolutions. There must be a mistake, but if the author gets the first word that should be me.
Speaker: Hannah NEUMANN (Germany — Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)
Political group: Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance
Date: 2020-09-17
Debate: The situation in the Philippines, including the case of Maria Ressa

  Hannah Neumann,  author. – Madam President, before the summer I spoke to Maria Ressa. She had just lost a made-up case, and I was so worried about the human rights situation in the Philippines. 
I said Maria, what can we do as the international community? She said ‘democracy dies in darkness so you should is shed light on the situation’. That is exactly why we are having this debate today and that’s why I’m happy to see you here Ms Urpilainen.
But someone is missing, and that’s our new trade commissioner Mr Dombrovskis, because as the European Union we don’t have that many tools to protect human rights and democracy, and maybe our trade policy is the strongest one.
But Duterte, the president of the Philippines, who is encouraging his own services to kill tens of thousands of people, still enjoys EU trade privileges the under the GSP Plus scheme that are supposedly linked to improvements in human rights. 
The situation is just getting worse, and that’s why I’m so happy that across all political parties in this resolution we call on the Commission to start the procedure to revoke these privileges immediately and – to be frank – by immediately, we mean by Monday.
Speaker: Hannah NEUMANN (Germany — Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)
Political group: Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance
Date: 2020-09-14
Debate: Arms export: implementation of Common Position 2008/944/CFSP (debate)

  Hannah Neumann,  rapporteur. – Madam President, we reached a lot with this report and I would be very happy if we could confirm our many forward-looking proposals in the final version on Wednesday. But let’s not stop halfway. If we want the EU to play a role in this world in chaos, and if we want to build a true European defence union, we need to join in arms production, but we also need to join in oversight and arms export control. Et je comprends bien que ce sujet est une prérogative nationale, oui, but there is one thing that this European project has taught us: no one is going to come, Mr Borrell, and give this European Union and this Commission any competences all by themselves, and no one is going to come and offer this Parliament any rights for scrutiny, oversight or control. If we do not claim it and fight for it, it’s not going to happen. 
And that’s why I call on all pro-European parties in this House – and I deliberately include PPE and Renew in this one – to vote tomorrow for Amendment 19; to vote for Amendment 19 that calls on the Member States and Commission to translate the Common Position on EU arms export, the Common Position that was reaffirmed by all 27 Member States one year ago, to transfer this Common Position into EU law. And to do it, to finish what we started, and make sure that the European Union can really control where EU arms, arms produced inside the EU, end up in this world in chaos.
Speaker: Hannah NEUMANN (Germany — Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)
Political group: Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance
Date: 2020-07-09
Debate: The 2019 Human Rights Annual report - Stability and Security in the Mediterranean and the negative role of Turkey - Situation in Belarus (debate)

  Hannah Neumann,  on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group. – Madam President, we stood here in January this year, and in Parliament’s resolution on the 2018 annual report we called on the Council and the Commission to establish a coordinated procedure for granting visas to human rights defenders. And now I’m standing here again: nothing happened. Even worse, when I asked the Commission about it this March, I received the following answer: the Commission is, and I quote, ‘not aware of systemic problems faced by human rights defenders fulfilling the necessary entry conditions in being granted short-stay visas’. Seriously?
Özgür Gür was supposed to speak at a round table at Parliament on 15 October last year. He’s a 25-year-old LGBTI activist. He applied for a Schengen visa with the Belgian embassy. The MEP hosting the event even called the embassy. Still he didn’t receive a visa. Tomorrow, Özgür Gür is facing trial in Turkey for organising a non-violent protest for LGBTI rights.
There are so many more people like Özgür Gür, because to get a visa, you should be married, have a proper job, a regular income, you should not have been in prison or in conflict with state authorities. Well, human rights defenders living in oppressive countries can rarely fulfil these criteria, precisely because of the work they do, because of the work we ask them to do and we encourage them to do. And then the Commission speaks of no systemic problems?
Mr Borrell, you know this as much as I do. Human rights defenders are our partners. Without them, we can do nothing when it comes to promoting human rights globally, and their space is shrinking. And now our own visa policies are shrinking their space even more. So I really urge you to get together with Commissioner Johansson to stop this injustice and adapt the Visa Handbook, to make sure that they can travel and network and go to conferences. Because our role as the European Union is to support and protect those fighting for democracy and human rights, and not to make their lives even more difficult.
Speaker: Hannah NEUMANN (Germany — Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)
Political group: Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance
Date: 2020-06-18
Debate: Foreign policy consequences of the COVID-19 crisis - The PRC national security law for Hong Kong and the need for the EU to defend Hong Kong's high degree of autonomy - The EU's response to the possible Israeli annexation in the West Bank (debate)

  Hannah Neumann (Verts/ALE).   – Mr President, Mr Borrell, dear colleagues, we have focused our efforts on the COVID-19 pandemic as a health crisis in recent months. But in its shadow a human rights crisis is unfolding and this human rights crisis is making the health emergency even worse. 
If regimes attack and kidnap journalists who report on the pandemic, it doesn’t stop the virus, it just spreads disinformation and mistrust.
If regimes use corona funds to buy weapons for their police to enforce lockdowns, it doesn’t stop the virus. It only spreads fear and death. 
Of course, restrictions to individual freedoms are necessary to fight the pandemic, but each and every restriction needs to be proportionate. It needs to be clearly linked to the health emergency and above all, people have to be allowed to debate them and often they are not. 
So, to fight the COVID-19 crisis globally, we need to tackle both the health emergency and the human rights crisis. We need to monitor the spread of the disease and the human rights violations. We need to investigate deaths and human rights violations. We need to protect our doctors and our human rights defenders.
Mr Borrell, it’s not just about millions. Team Europe needs to become Team Human Rights. And while I applaud your efforts in this regard, and you have spoken up strongly, I really think that we need to step up our actions on this one as well, looking at the world of today.
Speaker: Hannah NEUMANN (Germany — Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)
Political group: Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance
Date: 2020-02-12
Debate: Gender Equality Strategy (debate)

  Hannah Neumann (Verts/ALE).   – Frau Präsidentin! Frau Dalli, ich freue mich sehr, dass wir jetzt mit so viel Energie in diesen Prozess der Strategie starten, und ich freue mich auch, dass unsere Parlamentsentschließung, über die wir morgen abstimmen, eine starke außenpolitische Dimension hat. Denn zum einen macht Solidarität uns Frauen stark, und zum anderen haben wir in so vielen Friedensverhandlungen gesehen, und das ist auch wissenschaftlich bewiesen: Je mehr Frauen am Verhandlungstisch sitzen, umso länger hält der Frieden. Ich finde es gleichzeitig wichtig, dass wir uns auch an unsere eigene Nase fassen. Mir ist es oft wirklich hochnotpeinlich, wenn wir mit EP-Delegationen ins Ausland reisen, und da sind nur Männer; wenn unser Europäischer Auswärtiger Dienst in den Krisenregionen keine einzige Botschaft hat, die von einer Frau geführt wird. Ich würde mich einfach sehr freuen, wenn wir in dieser Strategie nicht nur innenpolitisch rangehen und nicht nur mit dem Finger auf andere zeigen, sondern uns auch wirklich an unsere eigene Nase fassen und unsere eigenen Strukturen da nochmal angucken. Da haben Sie, glaube ich, in uns Grünen eine starke Unterstützerin, aber nicht nur da. Mutig voran! Das wäre sehr schön.
Speaker: Hannah NEUMANN (Germany — Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)
Political group: Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance
Date: 2020-02-11
Debate: The current security situation in Syria (debate)

  Hannah Neumann,  im Namen der Verts/ALE-Fraktion. – Frau Präsidentin! Nach Idlib sind all jene Menschen geflohen, die es bisher nicht aus Syrien heraus geschafft haben. Drei Millionen sind dort eingeschlossen – eingeschlossen in einem Stellvertreterkrieg auf dem Rücken der Schwächsten. Zivilisten werden gezielt angegriffen, Krankenhäuser und Schulen bombardiert, Streumunition eingesetzt – was in Idlib gerade herrscht, das ist das Recht des Grausamsten.
Ja, die EU leistet humanitäre Hilfe. Das ist wichtig, und es muss weitergehen. Aber sie kann mehr tun: voller diplomatischer Einsatz für einen Waffenstillstand, Dokumentation der Kriegsverbrechen, Ausweitung der Sanktionen auch auf Verantwortliche in Russland und der Türkei, und ja, Aufnahmekontingente für die Schwächsten, sollten sie es je aus Idlib heraus schaffen.
Herr Borrell, diese umfassende politische Lösung für Syrien, die hat gerade niemand. Aber gerade deswegen ist es so wichtig, dass wir die kleinen Schritte, die wir gehen können, auch konsequent gehen, um der Grausamkeit in Syrien etwas entgegenzusetzen. Ich hoffe, dass wir da am Montag auf dem Außenministerrat auch einen großen Schritt weiterkommen.
Speaker: Hannah NEUMANN (Germany — Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)
Political group: Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance
Date: 2020-01-14
Debate: Situation in Iran and Iraq following recent escalations (debate)

  Hannah Neumann (Verts/ALE).   – Mr President, the EU should use the dispute resolution mechanism to save the Iran deal, and we urgently need to step up our efforts: mediate between the USA and Iran, include other regional actors and help to further de—escalate the situation. This has been addressed already, so let me add another important aspect. The killing of Soleimani threatened to overshadow the voices of those protesters who had been calling for political reforms in both Iran and Iraq for months. But since Friday, they are back in the streets, despite mounting threats, again and they are even louder. And I also want to see EU action on this – to protect them from violence and killing, to fill the void that a withdrawal of US forces would leave in Iraq and to use all diplomatic ways to send a clear message to the Iranian regime. Yes, we need to deal with the big power politics, but there will never be peace in the region if the voices of those in the streets are silenced once more.
Speaker: Hannah NEUMANN (Germany — Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)
Political group: Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance
Date: 2020-01-14
Debate: Annual report 2018 on the human rights and democracy in the world and the European Union's policy on the matter (debate)

  Hannah Neumann,  on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group. – Madam President, the human rights situation is worsening globally. That is why it is important that we hold all those accountable who violate human rights. But it is even more important that we start using the leverage that we as the European Union, with all its Member States and its economic strengths, have. That we use it to protect all those fighting for democracy and human rights. 
Why is it that trade deals can protect business but not humans? Why do European companies still make a fortune selling weapons to warmongers? Why can’t so many human rights defenders still not come to the EU if they need protection? And why is it that European companies still destroy the livelihoods of so many indigenous people, only to mine coal?
Mr Borrell, with this report, we want to change those things. It is a strong report, carried by a very large majority in this House. I hope it will guide your work for the next five years. Thank you, Isabel Wiseler-Lima for your great work on this.
Speaker: Hannah NEUMANN (Germany — Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)
Political group: Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance
Date: 2020-01-14
Debate: Annual report on the implementation of the common foreign and security policy - Annual report on the implementation of the common security and defence policy (debate)

  Hannah Neumann (Verts/ALE).   – Frau Präsidentin, liebe Kolleginnen und Kollegen! Die Lage im Nahen Osten führt es uns gerade wieder vor Augen: Mehr Waffen machen eine Region nicht sicherer, und was wir brauchen, sind vor allem Vermittlung, Abrüstung und Prävention.
Davon aber finden wir im GSVP-Bericht von Herrn Danjean leider kaum etwas. Kritische Analyse bestehender EU-Missionen – Fehlanzeige, mehr Geld für Krisenprävention – abgelehnt, obwohl es im Bericht von Herrn McAllister steht. Und bei der europäischen Rüstungsexportpolitik, die für die Aufrüstung mitverantwortlich ist, kann angeblich alles so bleiben. Stattdessen fordert der Bericht mehrfach, die Militärausgaben auf 2 % des Bruttoinlandsproduktes zu steigern.
So, und da hört unsere konstruktive Zusammenarbeit dann auch wirklich auf, weil es uns um eine regelbasierte europäische Sicherheitspolitik geht, eine mit einer angemessenen Mischung aus zivilen und militärischen Maßnahmen, weil es so in den europäischen Verträgen steht und weil man nur so wirklich Frieden schafft. Deswegen erkennen wir die Vermittlungsversuche von Herrn Danjean an, aber wir werden gegen den Bericht stimmen, wenn unsere wesentlichen Änderungsanträge morgen nicht angenommen werden.
Speaker: Hannah NEUMANN (Germany — Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)
Political group: Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance
Date: 2019-11-27
Debate: Situation in the broader Middle East region, including the crisis in Iran, Iraq and Lebanon (debate)

  Hannah Neumann,  on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group. – Mr President, 30 years ago people took to the streets in Europe and they stood up for freedom and for democracy. They were not organised, but they were united in one claim: ‘we are the people’.
Two weeks ago in this House we congratulated ourselves on the successful demonstrations and how they have changed our lives for the better. Since this summer we have seen demonstrations in many countries around the Middle East. Algeria: ongoing. Egypt: violent and cruel crackdown. Lebanon: a Prime Minister stepping down and an old elite clinging to power. Iraq: their protest is met with the utmost violence. About 350 are dead. Iran: a massive media blackout. We don’t even have viable information, but more than 100 are dead for sure.
In all of these uprisings we see people taking their claims to the street against corruption and for participation, against repression and for democracy. What is new in this protest is that they don’t care anymore about sectarian or regional boundaries. We are all Iraqis is what they shout in the streets of Baghdad, and that is apparently scaring the old elites.
A tear gas canister fired at the head of a 17-year-old in Baghdad, a mother in jail for posting on Facebook in Cairo, protesters greeting security forces with flowers and met with live ammunition in Shiraz in Iran. And we, the European Union, the ones that have just celebrated 30 years of peaceful revolution, we are bystanders once more.
In Iraq we have been present for years. We have supported with humanitarian aid. We have had reconstruction projects. We actually have a mission on security sector reform in the very same country where medics are shot in the back when treating the wounded, where snipers are firing at peaceful protesters. And those in the streets of Iraq, they refused the interference of Iran and the US and they are very clear about that.
The UN has lost its credibility and protesters are clearly, clearly calling on us, the European Union, to fill the void, to organise dialogue, to stop the killing, to investigate the abuses, to do a proper security-sector reform and to just teach them crowd control. And the EU is issuing statements without commitments.
Let me be clear, doing nothing or only a little in such a situation can actually do a lot of harm. We failed the demonstrators of the Arab Spring in 2011, and we should not let them down once again. We are all human beings and we are human beings with human rights.