misclassified/meps_speeches_with_translation.csv huggingface dataset:
Speaker: Ska KELLER (Germany — Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)
Political group: Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance
Date: 2023-05-11
Debate: Protecting and restoring marine ecosystems for sustainable and resilient fisheries - Agreement of the IGC on Marine Biodiversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (High Seas Treaty) (debate)

  Ska Keller,  on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group. – Mr President, dear colleagues, the oceans are important for their biodiversity, for providing the oxygen that we breathe, for the food that we eat, for their role as a carbon sink – on which we depend – and for the mysteries that the deep sea still holds for us. That’s more than enough reason to protect them, because without healthy oceans, we humans cannot exist, and I’m afraid we very often forget that.
The oceans are not just a resource to be plundered, a resource that will be endlessly there for us. That is unfortunately not the case. The oceans are at their limits and if not beyond their limits already. And before we point fingers at other countries far away or whatnot, we need to do our homework here inside the European Union, in the high seas and also in the more coastal waters. Because all of the problems – overfishing, waste dumping, fertilisers and pesticides flowing into the ocean – all of that happens also here in Europe as well as elsewhere. This needs to change.
Protecting the seas starts at home, not with empty promises, but with real action, with more and truly protected areas, better control of fisheries and an end to plastic waste and the reform of agriculture. We know what to do, but we need to do it, and if we don’t have the political will to do it, we will all suffer the consequences.
Speaker: Ska KELLER (Germany — Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)
Political group: Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance
Date: 2022-10-20
Debate: Commission implementing Regulation (EU) 2022/1614 of 15 September 2022 determining the existing deep-sea fishing areas and establishing a list of areas where vulnerable marine ecosystems are known to occur or are likely to occur (debate)

  Ska Keller (Verts/ALE).   – Madam President, the deep sea is still a mystery to us. We know more about the surface of the moon than about the bottom of the ocean. Yet we are already wrecking this unknown and delicate place with waste and with fishing gear. Bottom trawling destroys everything on the sea floor, no matter whether it will be used later or not. And this has to stop. 
Already in 2016, we adopted the Deep-Sea Regulation which called for more protection, and only now the Commission is moving forward to truly preserve vulnerable marine life in the deep sea. This is a move we should welcome and not complain about. The Commission is simply doing its job to protect marine biodiversity and implementing decisions that we have voted for. 
It is high time we prioritised nature protection because the biodiversity crisis will not go away if we write legislation that we don’t put into practice. And we also have to stop thinking about nature protection and fisheries as being on opposite sides. Nature protection benefits fishers in the long run. We need to move away from fishing methods that have been proven to harm the seabed and delicate marine ecosystems. 
It is time we invested our resources into more sustainable fishing methods. That is how we get a resilient fisheries sector and how we make space for the new generations that want to be part of this sector. With the implementing act, only 1.16% of EU waters in the north-east Atlantic will be newly protected. That is very little given how much the oceans do for us. We need more, not less, protected areas because our lives depend on it.
Speaker: Ska KELLER (Germany — Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)
Political group: Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance
Date: 2022-09-14
Debate: State of the Union (debate)

  Ska Keller,  on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group. – Madam President, things are difficult, but what we need now is the message of ‘Yes, we see all the difficulties that everyone is facing. Yes, we are doing whatever we can to make things better. Yes, we will get through this very difficult time together – there is light at the end of the tunnel. And yes, Europe is a vital part of the solution’. 
And for that, we need action now from the Commission, from the Council and from this House. One opportunity lies just ahead of you with the vote on renewables and on energy efficiency, and I hope we will do the right thing.
Speaker: Ska KELLER (Germany — Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)
Political group: Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance
Date: 2022-06-22
Debate: Preparation of the European Council meeting of 23-24 June 2022, including the meeting with Western Balkan leaders on 23 June - Candidate status of Ukraine, the Republic of Moldova and Georgia (debate)

  Ska Keller,  on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group. – Mr President, I’m happy that the Commission has taken the historical decision to propose the status of an accession candidate for Ukraine and Moldova, as called for by this House, and I hope that the Council will also decide accordingly. 
The war Russia is raging against Ukraine, is also one against European values and is also one against European integration. And as a European family, we need to stand together. 
Ukraine and Moldova have made important steps and reforms, notably against corruption. Not all is well – much remains to be done – but the progress is there and it will be given new impetus also with a candidate status. 
Georgia, too, has European ambition that we want to support. And I would strongly encourage the Georgian Government not to undermine the country’s past progress and to go forward making the necessary reforms. 
Apart from those three countries, we also need to see a clear commitment and perspective for the Western Balkans. These countries have all been waiting for years for any sort of progress in their accession perspective. Many have made enormous reforms – North Macedonia even changed its name – but are still being held in limbo and this must finally come to an end. We need a clear and reliable path to the EU for the Western Balkans for their own sake, but also for the growth and the strength of our Union. 
While the countries joining have to undertake the tough task to implement reforms, it’s not only their job – the EU needs to grow with this challenge and do everything in its power to unite the Union’s family and to stand up for our values. Let us not let this opportunity slip away. 
And what Ukraine has reminded us is how much drive and how much passion is behind the way towards European membership, how much energy this perspective for the future involves, how much it lifts people’s spirits. 
Too often we who have managed to join this Union forget about this kind of passion, forget about this power of hope that it holds. Let us use this moment as an opportunity to bring new life into the accession process. There is much at stake, but there is also so much to win.
Speaker: Ska KELLER (Germany — Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)
Political group: Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance
Date: 2022-03-23
Debate: Debriefing of the European Council meeting in Paris on 10 March 2022 - Preparation of the European Council meeting 24-25 March 2022 (debate)

  Ska Keller,  on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group. – Madam President, Putin has brought back the horrors of war to Europe, and a cruel reminder of those horrors of the past and present is the violent death of World War Two Nazi concentration camp survivor, Boris Romanchenko, who was killed last week in the shelling of his apartment in Kharkiv. Our condolences go out to his family and friends, and to all Ukrainians who have lost loved ones in this senseless war. 
Millions of people have had to flee from Ukraine. Women, who still a month ago were building their careers, are now homeless. Children who were surrounded by their friends at their last birthday party now hold onto their pets as their only friends left. Students who are studying for their final exams are now stranded and old couples who maybe used to sit in street cafes, watching passers-by, now sit for days in overcrowded trains, hoping to arrive somewhere safe, and yet they have nowhere to go.
In this war, as in so many others, lives have been disrupted from one day to the next and people have been left shattered and scattered. The suffering of those refugees is immense, but there is also immense solidarity among Europeans who give donations, hand out food and even open their homes for those people in need. I want to thank those volunteers wholeheartedly. You are showing what Europe is about. You are showing what humanity is about. 
Member States have eased access at the borders and are setting up housing capacities. This solidarity is important and it is outstanding, but we need to speed up and we need to redouble those efforts. We need to redouble them and we need to protect people without discrimination. 
As always, it’s the countries that are in close geographic proximity that take the biggest inflows, but we all need to share together as Europeans, as European Member States, we need to share this effort of housing refugees among Member States, of registration and supporting those in need. We cannot expect a few countries alone to shoulder this immense task. All Member States have to do their share and they have to do it in the long run. 
Unfortunately, many more people will probably have to leave their home or their temporary shelter in western Ukraine. The least we can do is to offer them a safe shelter, and that safe shelter needs to be organised now. 
Let us not wait until we are sitting in a situation where we don’t know what to do next. Let us prepare. We know what to do. We know that we need to be prepared. So everyone, every single Member State, needs to make the efforts to make sure that those people who are traumatised by the war will finally find a place to rest and to live in safety.
Speaker: Ska KELLER (Germany — Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)
Political group: Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance
Date: 2022-03-09
Debate: Debate with the Prime Minister of Estonia, Kaja Kallas - The EU's role in a changing world and the security situation of Europe following the Russian aggression and invasion of Ukraine (debate)

  Ska Keller,  on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group. – Madam President, the war Putin is waging is targeted against Ukraine, shelling civilian areas and attacking refugees, but his war is also meant against Europe as a whole.
Putin intends to destroy the post—Cold War European security architecture. Putin is waging a war against democracy, rule of law and freedoms, which are universal values. As the European Union, as the Union built for peace, we must act for the European security.
At European level, we need to make sure that the Member States’ defence is functioning, that investments are compatible with one another, that pooling and sharing finally gets implemented, and that we have common standards so equipment cannot be used by one State alone.
But colleagues, if we are exclusively thinking about the army when saying defence and security, then we don’t see the whole picture. Security means much more. It means energy security and energy independence. We need to get rid of the dependence on Russia’s fossil fuels and raw materials – be it gas, oil, coal or uranium. We have plenty of sun and wind to use on our own. We have the technology at hand. We need to reduce our consumption and speed up Fit for 55, investing massively in renewables, in energy efficiency and in energy saving.
Security also means civil protection. In the last years and decades, much of the protective infrastructure in Europe has been neglected. Floods and wildfires in recent years have already shown us the lack of preparedness. The EU and its Member States need to urgently work on how to effectively protect citizens.
Security also means making sure that Europe’s critical infrastructure is well—functioning, well—stocked and in public hands. The same goes for cybersecurity and our digital infrastructure and data. We need to talk about resilient societies, about communities that help each other and are educated to withstand misinformation campaigns and to spot fake news.
Security for Europe means solidarity among Member States, about sharing the efforts, for example, for welcoming the many people fleeing Ukraine. They need to be housed, they need medical care, the children need to go to school, and that will need a shared effort by all Member States and not just a few. We have seen it in the last two weeks. When we act together, we are strong. This is the lesson that we have to carry forward.
Speaker: Ska KELLER (Germany — Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)
Political group: Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance
Date: 2022-03-08
Debate: International Women’s Day – Address by Oksana Zabuzhko

  Ska Keller,  on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group. – Madam President, we have made advances for gender equality, but the pure fact that I stand here today, as a female politician and the President of my Group, and the fact that we have a female President of the Parliament, is unfortunately nothing to be taken for granted. It is the result of the incredible work of the many women before us who fought for equal rights and for gender equality. With that in mind, today becomes more than a celebration of women’s rights. It becomes a reminder of the hard work that we need to put in for women’s rights, a reminder of how much equality we’re still missing. 
In times of war, women are one of the most vulnerable groups, threatened by gender—based violence, fleeing conflict zones under horrible conditions and at high risk of human trafficking, while often being excluded from the formal negotiations to end the conflicts that they are suffering from. The idea of feminism is about creating a fair world, a world in which we can live freely, equally and in peace. 
In the last two weeks, we have seen these ideals demonstrated by the brave women of Ukraine doing everything in their power to keep their families and their communities safe. I also want to stress that we see all the efforts of women in Russia and in Belarus protesting to show they disagree with this horrific war of Putin’s, who is waging it against Ukraine, all the while not forgetting the efforts and the suffering of women in Syria, Afghanistan, Yemen and so many other conflicts in the world. 
These women show us what courage and resilience look like, and this is the courage that we lose when women are not involved in the decision—making processes. Experience shows that, when women are part of the decision—making and peace-making efforts, the resulting peace is longer lasting and more broadly carried by society because diverse perspectives and additional knowledge are included. 
It is our joint responsibility to make sure that women around the world receive equal opportunities to get their feet in the door and take their rightful place at the table. Feminism is the key to a more equal and more peaceful world, not just for women, but for all of us and for the generations to come.
Speaker: Ska KELLER (Germany — Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)
Political group: Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance
Date: 2022-02-16
Debate: EU-Russia relations, European security and Russia’s military threat against Ukraine (debate)

  Ska Keller,  on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group. – Madam President, Ukraine is under threat. A country that just as any other country wants to decide on its own future but is bullied by its big neighbour. But this is not just a threat to Ukraine. It’s also an attack on the basic idea of how states relate to each other. It’s a threat to international rules and to European security. And it saddens me profoundly that we have to debate this dangerous development in our Eastern Neighbourhood today. 
This European Parliament was born out of the devastating experience of war and violence. The EU was built as a peace project and a model of democratic cooperation. President Putin’s nationalist and imperial course of action and suppression runs contrary to the mere idea of our common Union. Putin’s actions therefore challenge us as Europeans, and we as Members of this Parliament, carry a historic responsibility to stand up and clearly condemn Russia’s threats of aggression.
As the EU, as its Parliament, we stand united against the Russian threat and in full support with Ukraine. The people of Ukraine have our support for choosing their own path for living in peace and for undertaking reforms that will transform their country for the better. 
We need to be prepared for sanctions against individuals, entities and sectors in Russia. I am talking, for example, about freezing assets, about entry bans, and yes, I am also talking about Nord Stream 2. This pipeline must be part of our common sanction regime. And yes, sanctions have repercussions, also for ourselves, but we must act in face of an aggression.
As a Union we need to reduce our dependency on Russia, especially when it comes to energy. We have the technologies to do so and we have ample supplies of sun and wind. What energy we use is a geo-strategic decision. And we need to make the right one. 
Let’s not forget that the Ukrainian people have suffered greatly already because of the Russian aggression going on for years in eastern Ukraine. Almost 15 000 people have died. More than a million Ukrainians had to flee their homes. Conflicts can only be solved by diplomatic means. Russia must withdraw its troops and end the threat of invasion. It must return to the table of frank and peaceful negotiations. Negotiations that must be based on international law, mutual respect and a common vision for peace on our common European continent.
This is a key moment for international peace, stability and security. Now is our time to show through words and through actions that we stand united as one, and that the people of Ukraine can count on us.
Speaker: Ska KELLER (Germany — Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)
Political group: Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance
Date: 2022-01-17
Debate: Memorial ceremony for President David Maria Sassoli

  Ska Keller,  Co-President of the Verts/ALE Group. – Madam President, dear colleagues, dear family of David, last week, we not only lost a political leader but also a member of our European family. And as it always is with family members, they leave a painful void – a void that will be felt in this Parliament for a very long time. 
President Sassoli was a committed, heartfelt pro-European. He carried a deep conviction that Europe’s future could only be ensured by working together, by overcoming the borders of the past. He leaves us a big legacy and it is up to us now to continue on this path. His conviction and passion for Europe is our guidance for the future. 
In his political life, President Sassoli could always rely on the power of the better argument. He was a man of political discussions striving to change people’s minds and convictions with the power of words. And thanks to his visions, humour and his compassion, he was able to connect with people and build lasting ties. 
In the current political climate that is so often shaped by polarisation and antagonism, he was able to build bridges and bring people together. He was, in that sense, a politician of the best kind and the best ambassador for our democratic House. 
President Sassoli and I saw eye-to-eye on many big challenges that our continent is facing today – be it on climate change or on the need for a truly social Europe. It was, however, his continuous battle against the humanitarian disaster of people suffering and dying at EU borders that brought us together the most. 
I will always honour David for his very clear words and deeply human approach. He impressed me as he did not shy away when the call for rescuing people at sea was far from popular, while he was convinced it is a human duty.
Dear Members of this House, we have lost a most distinguished colleague and a great European politician. My deeply felt condolences go to the family of David, who have lost so much more. David Sassoli, President of the European Parliament, will be missed deeply and he will not be forgotten.
(Applause)
Speaker: Ska KELLER (Germany — Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)
Political group: Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance
Date: 2021-11-23
Debate: Conclusions of the European Council meeting of 21-22 October 2021 (debate)

  Ska Keller,  on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group. – Mr President, yet again, the COVID cases are spiralling up in some European regions more than ever before during the pandemic. Europe is even becoming a hotspot in the global statistics.
And yes, there are differences between Member States. But we should never stop to look for European solutions, to learn from one another, and we should make sure that the virus that has caused so much damage never gets in the way of our united Europe.
The Member States need to make a greater effort to get people vaccinated also, with booster shots, to prevent the overburdening of the health system and to protect the people who cannot be vaccinated yet, like most children.
This crisis is not over yet, and it will not help to pretend otherwise. We should not forget that many regions of the world don’t even have access to enough vaccines, and this needs to change, or we will never see the end of the pandemic.
In preparation for the summit, we had discussed the issue of the rule of law, and I was indeed very happy that several presidents and prime ministers were very vocal on rule of law in the media. However, it seems that the Council did not reach any progress.
And it’s not only – also, but not only – the task of the Commission to act, but also of the Member States. The Article 7 procedure is in the hands of the Council and yet, nothing is moving. We need more action and we need it fast. This only becomes a crisis if we don’t act.
Speaking of another crisis, the climate summit in Glasgow has brought about progress, but it’s the bitter reality that this progress is absolutely insufficient in the wake of a catastrophic climate crisis. And there is no time for self—congratulatory statements. The urgency is real.
Europe needs to step up its game, and it’s not helped by branding fossil investments as sustainable. Investments in gas now will mean prolonging the fossil era for decades, instead of finally getting real with climate protection. And nuclear is neither safe nor clean, and certainly not renewable. We desperately need a sustainable energy transition, and we cannot waste our time on gas and nuclear.
And finally, on Belarus: as long as we see human beings as the biggest threat, we give Belarus and also other regimes all leverage. We have to help those people in need. They are stuck, and they are not weapons; they are people in need.