misclassified/meps_speeches_with_translation.csv huggingface dataset:
Speaker: Assita KANKO (Belgium — Nieuw-Vlaamse Alliantie)
Political group: European Conservatives and Reformists Group
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)

  Assita Kanko,  on behalf of the ECR Group. – Mr President, this Commission has promised to be a geopolitical Commission. Yet, so far, I have not seen proof of this. Instead, I’ve seen the External Action Service bend over backwards to appease Beijing. At next week’s EU-China summit, it’s clear that the Chinese are unwilling to make progress on any major issues. 
So, I ask the Commission, I’m asking you why are you giving Beijing a free photo op while they use all their energy to wage a global campaign against democracy? The people of Hong Kong were promised their own system of governance. China is reneging on its promises with the national security law. 
If you are to truly defend democracy at home and abroad, we cannot just issue statements of support for Hong Kong democratic forces. We must back up our words with actions.
The EU is trying to chart its own strain of strategy. I do not subscribe to some of the Cold War rhetoric that we have seen from Washington. But, as Margaret Thatcher once said: ‘The trouble with walking down the middle of the road is you get hit by traffic in both directions.’ Where do you want to stand?
Speaker: Assita KANKO (Belgium — Nieuw-Vlaamse Alliantie)
Political group: European Conservatives and Reformists Group
Date: 2020-02-11
Debate: The current security situation in Syria (debate)

  Assita Kanko (ECR).   – Madam President, the situation in Syria is dire. The conflict has killed almost 400 000 people since 2011. This is an entrenched conflict rife with opposing interests and objectives. A solution must be found. The suffering of the Syrian people and the risk to long-term global stability have been too great for too long. The EU and its Member States have provided more than 17 billion in aid and the Council has targeted sanctions in place. But these are sticking plasters on a gaping wound.
EU Member States, the US and other international players must do everything they can to push for de-escalation and the freezing of this conflict so that a cease-fire can be honoured and a fragile peace can be maintained. Europe’s influence in achieving this aim will be severely diminished if it cannot speak with one voice at both an EU or NATO level. There are no elegant solutions available, simply the urgent need for pragmatism and diplomatic determination. Let’s do this.
Speaker: Assita KANKO (Belgium — Nieuw-Vlaamse Alliantie)
Political group: European Conservatives and Reformists Group
Date: 2020-01-16
Debate: Nigeria, notably the recent terrorist attacks

  Assita Kanko,  author. – Madam President, ‘Bring back our girls’. Remember six years ago this hashtag brought the world together to call upon the Islamic terror group Boko Haram to release the hundreds of schoolgirls they abducted. It is heart breaking to think that more than 100 of them have still not returned to their homes today. It’s a terrible fate for them and for their families. The pain is easy to imagine. 
Nigeria has been subjected to sectarian and religious violence for far too long. It’s yet another country in sub-Saharan Africa that sees its economic and political potential wasting away. Nigeria with its oil wealth would be a leading example in the region. Instead, almost every day Nigerians are dying at the hands of violence and terror. Millions run for their lives. Millions more live every day in fear. Europe must continue to support the people of Nigeria and promote the regional cooperation and encourage further reforms like for security and in the army. 
Our determination and efforts to end religious and sectarian violence and to protect women in the region must never waiver so we can stop the poisonous and destructive spread of terror.
Speaker: Assita KANKO (Belgium — Nieuw-Vlaamse Alliantie)
Political group: European Conservatives and Reformists Group
Date: 2020-01-14
Debate: Situation in Iran and Iraq following recent escalations (debate)

  Assita Kanko (ECR).   – Mr President, the Iran crisis is the first test of the new geopolitical Commission. The jury is out on whether it has passed. We all agree that General Soleimani will be missed as much as toothache. His death came after years of brutal action and weeks of Iranian escalation. However, since his death, the United States has probably avoided a war through chance rather than through strategy.
The EU was right to seek de—escalation and to push the Iranian response to be limited. Unfortunately, 176 innocent people became victims of this situation.
The EU’s role right now is critical. While Europe’s actions must never be driven by Iranian intimidation, we should continue to de—escalate, we should get Iran back to the table and prevent its nuclear ambitions and work with Iraq to maintain the anti—ISIS coalition.
We have stepped back from the brink of war but getting everyone around the table will require solid European leadership, and I’m not seeing it right now.
Speaker: Assita KANKO (Belgium — Nieuw-Vlaamse Alliantie)
Political group: European Conservatives and Reformists Group
Date: 2019-12-19
Debate: Violations of human rights including religious freedoms in Burkina Faso

  Assita Kanko, Auteur. – Voorzitter, mijn hart bloedt want mijn vaderland Burkina Faso, ooit seculier, kreunt onder de terreur van islamitische radicalisering en geweld door jihadistische terroristen. Ze zaaiden eerst dood en verderf in Syrië en bedreigen nu de hele Sahel met hun gruwelijke ideologie van de dood. Door kerken en moskeeën aan te vallen hebben ze maar één doel: de gemeenschap vernietigen. Ze richten zich op die plekken waar mensen samenkomen, bidden, lachen, zingen en elkaar liefhebben.
Regionale terreur heeft wereldwijde gevolgen. De geopolitieke implicaties kunnen enorm zijn, zeker voor Europa, in de eerste plaats op het gebied van migratie. Maar laten we ook de aanslagen in het hart van onze Unie niet vergeten. Mede daarom moet de EU de landen van de Sahel blijven ondersteunen om de veiligheid in de regio te garanderen. Maar ook duurzame ontwikkeling en een sterk handelsbeleid in het kader van de EU-Afrika-strategie zijn essentieel. Welvaart is vaak een dam tegen terreurregimes. Wij mogen Burkina Faso en de Sahel niet achterlaten. Anders dreigt een brandhaard en de vonken zullen snel overslaan naar Europa. Vergeet niet: Burkina was seculier.
Speaker: Assita KANKO (Belgium — Nieuw-Vlaamse Alliantie)
Political group: European Conservatives and Reformists Group
Date: 2019-12-18
Debate: Situation of human rights and democracy in Nicaragua (debate)

  Assita Kanko (ECR).   – Voorzitter, mijn partijgenoot en N-VA-senator Mark Demesmaeker bezocht begin dit jaar Amaya Coppens. Deze 25-jarige studente uit België zit in een gevangenis in Managua omdat zij mee protesteerde tegen de regering van president Ortega. Duizenden mensen zitten in de cel in Nicaragua omdat zij op straat kwamen voor een vrij en democratisch land dat de mensenrechten en fundamentele vrijheden respecteert. Is Ortega soms vergeten dat hij zelf ooit in de gevangenis zat omdat hij tegen zijn regering protesteerde?
We eisen dan ook de volledige uitvoering van de afspraken van 29 maart dit jaar. We roepen de Nicaraguaanse regering op om de dialoog op te starten en een einde te maken aan de voortdurende repressie. De democratie moet weer kunnen zegevieren. Dat wil zeggen: vrije en eerlijke verkiezingen. “Ik blijf hier en ik ga hier voor de mensenrechten blijven strijden”, dat waren de woorden van Amaya Coppens. Alle mensen die omwille van hun protest in de cel zitten, moeten onmiddellijk worden vrijgelaten, inclusief dat meisje van 25 jaar. We moeten ze helpen.
Speaker: Assita KANKO (Belgium — Nieuw-Vlaamse Alliantie)
Political group: European Conservatives and Reformists Group
Date: 2019-12-18
Debate: An EU strategy to put an end to female genital mutilation around the world (debate)

  Assita Kanko,  on behalf of the ECR Group. – Madam President, FGM affects every stage of your life. It becomes a part of who you are – your ability as a child to trust; how you feel when you fall in love; your experience when you are pregnant; the way you give birth. It changes how you love others, and how you love and treat yourself. FGM is the worst kind of violation to your body, your mind and your dignity at a time when you are a defenceless child, and it never goes away. You do your best to survive and thrive, but you must, because you end up keeping an eye on yourself to never forget your value is the same as everyone else’s. 
This is also my daily struggle – and that of 200 million women and girls worldwide, including the 500 000 who live in Europe and the many victims who remain every day. Change is too late, too little, too slow. We urgently need strategies and an action plan that achieve far-reaching and lasting impact. 
I was moved and very much inspired by The Restorers, our finalists for the Sakharov Prize, who are here this week. They remind us that behind every action we take, every choice we make, there is a girl whose hopes and future or dreams rely upon us. We must first of all see them. We must hear them. We must protect them. We must together enable them to fulfil their potential and live a bright future.
Speaker: Assita KANKO (Belgium — Nieuw-Vlaamse Alliantie)
Political group: European Conservatives and Reformists Group
Date: 2019-12-17
Debate: The Rule of Law in Malta, after the recent revelations around the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia (debate)

  Assita Kanko,  on behalf of the ECR Group. – Mr President, a free press keeps us free. It shines a light on the darkest and most corrupt corners of our societies. It holds politicians, governments, but also businesses, accountable. It keeps the eyes of our citizens wide open.
From where I come from, I had never imagined that modern—day Europe, the continent of enlightenment, would become the home to corruption, to press intimidation and to the assassination of journalists; that serious concerns about a criminal investigation, the independence of a criminal investigation, or serious concerns about the independence of government action would weave itself around the roots of our democracies.
If Europe is to speak with authority and credibility on governance, on freedom and on the fundamental rights, then Europe must become the best it can be. If we are to win back the trust, and retain this trust, of our citizens, then we need to keep ourselves to the highest standards.
Daphne Caruana Galizia was a mother and a wife who will not be going home on Christmas Eve to hug her sons or smile to her husband because she did her job as a journalist. And this family of hers cannot mourn because there is no justice yet. Not only must there be justice for Daphne and her family but also justice for our press for the sake of our democracy. We need to look into the mirror, and there face what we might become if we do not make that justice happen.
Speaker: Assita KANKO (Belgium — Nieuw-Vlaamse Alliantie)
Political group: European Conservatives and Reformists Group
Date: 2019-11-27
Debate: Presentation by the Commission President-elect of the College of Commissioners and their programme (debate)

  Assita Kanko (ECR).   – Madam President, this is a make or break Commission. The UK is leaving, or trying to. Enlargement strategy has stalled, our European way of life is under pressure and Turkish troops continue to bite at the heels of our border management policy.
Let’s face facts: confidence and trust in the EU is fading, reforms are needed. We all need this Commission to deliver. You will, therefore, need to work hard to unite this fractured Union and win majorities around your agenda, especially on important issues like protecting the European way of life, ensuring effective solutions on internal security, migration management and economy. And we must lead by example on human rights. We need to increase jobs, growth and trade and to protect our environment while ensuring Europe can remain competitive. It is no small undertaking, but I hope it can be achieved.
It’s a great moment to have a female President of the Commission. Suffragette Alice Paul said: ‘there will never be a new world order until women are a part of it’. My hope is that you, Madam President, and your team will show us every day that you are the woman for the job and for the change and I look forward to working with you.
Speaker: Assita KANKO (Belgium — Nieuw-Vlaamse Alliantie)
Political group: European Conservatives and Reformists Group
Date: 2019-11-13
Debate: Children rights in occasion of the 30th anniversary of the Convention of the Rights of the Child (debate)

  Assita Kanko (ECR).   – Mr President, every child deserves a future and the freedom to choose what that future looks like. Everything we decide in this Parliament is helping to shape those choices. Our policy on the economy, the environment, the single market, trade and our engagement with third countries is building a framework for that future.
Yet, often the best way to improve a child’s life is to listen to what they have to say. As policy-makers, we need to make sure we do this. We cannot always allow what is urgent to overtake what is important in the long run and throw out the concerns of the young.
As we saw with the ECR Sakharov Prize nominees and finalists, the Restorers, these girls were determined to shape their own future by giving other girls of their age the freedom to choose what happens to their bodies and to their destinies.
Let me share a WhatsApp message they sent me after their nomination. They said: ‘we are just back from class. Being able to be part of the people who are considered for the prize itself was a big win for the team and an affirmation that we are not alone’. So I would like to call for us to speak more with each other and achieve more of this kind of hope.
Speaker: Assita KANKO (Belgium — Nieuw-Vlaamse Alliantie)
Political group: European Conservatives and Reformists Group
Date: 2019-10-24
Debate: Situation of LGBTI persons in Uganda

  Assita Kanko,  on behalf of the ECR Group. – Mr President, two African countries criminalise same—sex relations. Four of them punish homosexuality with death. This is a heartbreaking and awful statistic. I have spent my whole life trying to help others fight intolerance and discrimination. When I was a kid I couldn’t imagine what my life would be if I had not been heterosexual. A lot of conversations I heard referred to homosexuals as criminals or people who are not clean. It’s really awful to know that today this is still the case.
It has also been my experience that to really achieve meaningful and lasting change in attitudes and beliefs, you not only have to condemn and be bold or sound sad, but also promote education programmes and community dialogue for concrete and sustainable results. We need to help increase trust between local people and the NGOs who carry out the brave and important work of protecting the LGBTI community in these countries. Europe needs to work together with communities, police forces and the political system of these countries to bring an end to this deplorable situation. We must use every opportunity we have in our dialogue with these countries to promote tolerance, education and understanding, because everyone has a right to be free and everyone has a right to live and love without fear.
Speaker: Assita KANKO (Belgium — Nieuw-Vlaamse Alliantie)
Political group: European Conservatives and Reformists Group
Date: 2019-10-23
Debate: The Turkish military operation in northeast Syria and its consequences (debate)

  Assita Kanko (ECR).   – Mr President, when I was a child, if someone would say that the Americans would come and save us, I actually tended to believe it because of American movies. I don’t know if it was right and I don’t know if today it would be wrong. If I was a child again and someone were to say, ‘wait, Europe will come and save you’, maybe I’d start saving myself. 
Europe has chosen diplomacy as a powerful tool and I think this is very beautiful. Diplomacy is indeed a powerful tool, but only when the person across the table knows you are willing to act. We must show that, when it comes to ensuring global stability, the EU is not a talking shop but a beacon of hope for those fighting for freedom, for their lives. 
We should halt licenses for arms exports to Turkey and consider putting in place economic sanctions. We must push for a no-fly zone in north-east Syria and call for peace talks to be resumed with the involvement of Kurdish representation. We should put an immediate block on European pre-accession aid and guarantee humanitarian assistance in the region for those displaced and in harm’s way. While some world leaders seek to retreat from their responsibilities in the Middle East, this is the time for the EU to step forward and also pay special attention to women suffering a lot of abuse over there.
Speaker: Assita KANKO (Belgium — Nieuw-Vlaamse Alliantie)
Political group: European Conservatives and Reformists Group
Date: 2019-10-09
Debate: Situation in Northern Syria (debate)

  Assita Kanko,  namens de ECR-Fractie. – Voorzitter, mevrouw de hoge vertegenwoordiger. Worden de Koerden eens te meer de speelbal van de geschiedenis? Het ziet er vandaag, na de Turkse inval in het noorden van Syrië, zo naar uit. Nadat de Koerdische milities de [...] leverden om het IS-kalifaat te helpen opdoeken, laat de VS hen nu vallen. De Turkse autocraat Erdogan krijgt zo vrij spel om de Koerdische autonomie in het gebied ongedaan te maken. Zijn plan om Syrische vluchtelingen te hervestigen in de noordelijke strook van Rojava, waar zich de grootste steden van de Syrische Koerden bevinden, zal daar voor langdurige instabiliteit zorgen. Het Turkse offensief dreigt het herstel van het gebroken land bijna onmogelijk te maken.
Eind vorige maand werd dankzij VN-bemiddeling een constitutioneel comité opgericht waarin de Syrische regering en oppositie constructief zouden overleggen. Erdogan begraaft nu in feite deze dialoog. Deze inval kan de IS-terroristen een tweede adem geven, zowel in Europa als in de Sahel-regio. Daar is deze situatie acuut en precair, zoals mijn geboorteland Burkina Faso jammer genoeg aantoont. IS zal in kampen zoals Al-Hol wellicht vrij spel krijgen. We mogen ook een vluchtelingencrisis verwachten. Onverantwoord dus, dit Turkse optreden in Syrië. Daarom moet Europa de betrokken partijen dringend tot maximale terughoudendheid aanmanen. Mevrouw de hoge vertegenwoordiger, maak hen dringend duidelijk dat het bloed van de bevolking gespaard moet worden bij militaire operaties en dat massaverplaatsingen van bevolkingen vermeden moeten worden.
Ik vraag om het democratisch Koerdisch zelfbestuur te beschermen. Laten we alstublieft de heropleving van jihadistische terreur effectief tegengaan.
Speaker: Assita KANKO (Belgium — Nieuw-Vlaamse Alliantie)
Political group: European Conservatives and Reformists Group
Date: 2019-09-19
Debate: Iran, notably the situation of women's rights defenders and imprisoned EU dual nationals

  Assita Kanko (ECR).   – Mr President, she liked soccer, maybe she was in love with someone, and enjoyed specific scents or food. Her name is Sahar Khodayari. She was also known as the Blue Girl, the colour of her favourite soccer team. Facing a jail sentence for trying to watch a soccer game, which is forbidden for women in her country – as another Flemish Iranian, Darya Safai, has been telling the world – the 29—year—old Iranian set herself on fire two weeks ago in front of the Islamic Revolutionary Court of Tehran.
In Iran, human rights defenders, or people like her who just want to enjoy freedom, face harassment, prosecution and detention. Protecting women’s rights is not a crime. Since January 2018, 32 people have been arrested in Iran, and at least 10 imprisoned, for protesting against the mandatory wearing of the hijab. The compulsory dress code is a violation of human rights and women’s dignity. In the past three years, 30 EU dual nationals have been unjustly arrested – like, for example, Professor Ahmad Reza Jalali who was also a visiting professor at the Free University Brussels (VUB).
After all the resolutions, Council conclusions and so on, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy stressed, earlier this year, that dialogue is the only way, but it’s not enough. It was not for Khodayari: she is dead because she liked soccer and was 29. It was not for Jalali: he’s in jail and sick. Many others are threatened.
Speaker: Assita KANKO (Belgium — Nieuw-Vlaamse Alliantie)
Political group: European Conservatives and Reformists Group
Date: 2019-09-17
Debate: Security situation in Burkina Faso (debate)

  Assita Kanko,  on behalf of the ECR Group. – Mr President, the dress I am wearing was made by a girl in Burkina Faso. When we were her age, we had so many dreams. Who doesn’t, when one is 20 years old? But what future is being shaped for her, on her motorcycle in a village in Burkina Faso, or for our kids here in a global world where Jihadism is allowed to grow here and there?
As the world looks away, Burkina Faso – my country of birth, where I played and ran barefoot in the then safe fields – is sinking far away in Jihadist violence today, after so many other places. Didn’t the world look away too long when the same problems occurred in Iraq or in Syria? Islamic State, Al Qaeda, Boko Haram and other Jihadist terror groups are now growing up again in this area. In the meantime, there are plenty of meetings, but isn’t it about time for more action and concrete results? 
The impact of the growing insecurity is a very concrete fact in the daily lives of people like that girl. School doors are more and more often barred by violence, leaving them without the education they need and with the increased risk of recruitment by armed groups, exploitation by human traffickers, abuse by child marriage and teen pregnancy. The number of displaced grew from 50 000 to 300 000 in less than a year. Health centres are closed. Freedom of the press was also affected by a legal ban on reporting on military operations. Businesses, including Western ones, move out – I just spoke to a business leader yesterday in Brussels. We need less meetings and more actions and results for the girl I just told you about.
Speaker: Assita KANKO (Belgium — Nieuw-Vlaamse Alliantie)
Political group: European Conservatives and Reformists Group
Date: 2019-07-16
Debate: Statement by the candidate Commission President (debate)

  Assita Kanko (ECR).   – Madam President, Mrs von der Leyen, my name is Assita Kanko and I am one of the seven children of a woman who had to run and hide when she decided to divorce – chased away by religious and traditional prohibitions.
When my last sibling was born she was 37. I turned 39 last Sunday and I have only one kid, by choice. But also because, for millions of female genitally-mutilated women, giving birth is more complicated – I am one of them. And I am grateful for this freedom to stand here and talk to you. 
I’m asking you this question as a Fleming and a woman, as a little girl who did not escape FGM and as a concerned mother. In Europe we close our eyes when the Islamic State kidnapped and raped women and girls like Nobel Prize winner, Nadia Murad. We look away when girls are cut on European soil – 500 000 is the number of those who live today with the consequences of FGM inside the EU. We look away when there are honour crimes, Sharia courts, segregation and Islamic radicalisation, which is bad news for women and our European values. 
How are you going to use your position to protect all women regardless of their religion and tradition? Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights has yet to apply to them. You can do this inside a strong Europe, not a superstate for top jobs but one about the people and which adds value and respects subsidiarity.