misclassified/meps_speeches_with_translation.csv huggingface dataset:
Speaker: Viola VON CRAMON-TAUBADEL (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)

  Viola Von Cramon-Taubadel (Verts/ALE).   – Mr President, ‘war is so unjust and ugly that all who wage it must try to stifle the voice of conscience within themselves.’ These words belong to one of the greatest pacifists, Leo Tolstoy, who ironically also happens to be the person who President Putin claims to have influenced him most.
Evidently, the Russian President has stifled his voice of conscience and brought our continent to the brink of war. How else could he summon 135 000 soldiers to the Ukrainian border? Ukraine is a great country of great people. Today it is stronger than ever. It stands up for itself and will only be stronger tomorrow. This is the reason for the Kremlin’s warmongering. Putin knows if he does not take over Ukraine now, he won’t be able to do so in the future.
What the Russian president sees as a window of opportunity could be a lethal trap for his country. Ukraine will be for Russia what Afghanistan was for the Soviet Union – an imperial overstretch and a painful end to Putin’s empire. War is not only unjust and ugly, but also senseless, as there are no winners. It brings only destruction and suffering to people on both sides. If Putin starts the war, ordinary Russians will have to suffer the consequences – Russian mothers crying over their fallen sons, pensioners feeling the chilling effects of Western sanctions.
Ukrainians are strong because they fight for their country. They do not stand alone, because they have reliable friends and, above all, because they have the truth on their side.
Speaker: Viola VON CRAMON-TAUBADEL (Germany — Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)
Political group: Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance
Date: 2022-02-15
Debate: Implementation of the common foreign and security policy – annual report 2021 - Implementation of the common security and defence policy – annual report 2021 (debate)

  Viola Von Cramon-Taubadel (Verts/ALE).   – Mr President, with Russian troops on the Ukrainian border and the European continent on the brink of a large-scale war, we are reminded once again that peace should not be taken for granted. Peace should be aspired to and built. A stronger, more united EU is the best way to establish peace in Europe, its neighbourhood and in many other regions worldwide. 
Such an ambitious goal requires ambitious transformation. The EU needs to stop being only a timid economic giant and instead start acting more confidently on the global stage. To the militarisation by Russia and the weaponisation of narratives by China and Russia, we need to combat with a coherent European voice and action guided by our fundamental values and interest. 
We need to use all sources of our power, be it economic and normative. And we need to strengthen resilience and security of this Union and its allies in eastern Europe, in the Balkans and elsewhere.
Speaker: Viola VON CRAMON-TAUBADEL (Germany — Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)
Political group: Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance
Date: 2022-01-19
Debate: Situation in Kazakhstan

  Viola Von Cramon-Taubadel,  on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group. – Mr President, congratulations also from my side.
The people of Kazakhstan have long enough tolerated hardships and injustice. Their patience reached its limit and they have started protesting peacefully. Increased gas prices are not the root cause of discontent, but a symptom of a larger social injustice. It is a common practice in an autocratic state that growing dissatisfaction is abused by a few. Small violent groups hijacked the peaceful protest and, in an orchestrated manner, started looting, setting on fire and storming the official buildings. 
While defending institutions is an obligation of any government, it does not justify the disproportionate use of force. Peaceful protesters were stripped of their rights of expression. The term ‘terrorist’ was randomly used. Over 10 000 people were detained and President Tokayev gave orders to shoot without warning. Shutting down the internet and further restricting media freedom left the Kazakhs uninformed and alarmed. 
Moreover, in an unprecedented move, President Tokayev invited Russian troops to restore order. This sets a dangerous precedent in the 30 years of sovereign statehood that was preserved carefully by balancing the powerful neighbours and its own ethnic groups. The invited Shanghai Cooperation Organisation groups were led by the same Russian general who also participated in annexing Crimea and other occupations. 
Those foreign forces have now mostly left. However, not only Tokayev, but the whole country have to foot the bill for Putin’s services. What will be on the bill? Recognition of Crimea? Control of Kazakhstan’s uranium mines? A new military base? Time will tell. 
Meanwhile, the EU was again shamefully absent from this crisis. Instead of shuttle diplomacy and presence on the ground, we limited ourselves with expression – again, traditional concerns. We need to be and can be more active. We should support Kazakhstan if its sovereignty comes under attack. But equally important is to stand with the journalists, civil society and activists that defend the democracy.
Speaker: Viola VON CRAMON-TAUBADEL (Germany — Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)
Political group: Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance
Date: 2021-12-16
Debate: Forced labour in the Linglong factory and environmental protests in Serbia

  Viola Von Cramon-Taubadel,  author. – Mr President, it is nothing new that Serbia is a captured state with a very weak reform track record. The Serbian regime has widely opened its doors to Chinese investment, but has no respect whatsoever for labour and environmental rights and, above all, human dignity. 
What is, however, new is the way Vietnamese workers are treated in Serbia, while working on the Linglong tyre factory construction site. This is what you call modern slavery: no water, food and heating. Is this the picture Europe wants to send as a global leader in fighting for human and labour rights? Other, but related, stories are the ongoing environmental protests. Why do both the Serbian Government and Rio Tinto keep secrecy around the plan of what to do with lithium mining in Loznica? Citizens are rightly worried. 
So let me be clear. The environmental protests in Serbia are not just about the environment, nor about laws on the referendum. The protests are equally as much about the widespread corruption, inaction of state institutions, lack of transparency and any progress on Serbia’s European path.
It is, therefore, high time for us in the EU to react. We risk our credibility by allowing the practice of slave labour and environmental barbarism to take root in the middle of Europe in an EU candidate country. We risk the democratic transformation of Serbia. Instead of opening the cluster, we have to support democratic pro-European voices in the country and show them that the EU is not ready to compromise on our standards.
Speaker: Viola VON CRAMON-TAUBADEL (Germany — Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)
Political group: Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance
Date: 2021-12-15
Debate: The proposed Council decision on provisional emergency measures for the external border with Belarus based on article 78(3) TFEU (continuation of debate)

  Viola Von Cramon-Taubadel (Verts/ALE).   – Herr Präsident, Herr Kommissar, liebe Kolleginnen und Kollegen! Wir haben hier schon oft zum Thema Belarus und Außengrenzen gesprochen. Für das, was Geflüchtete dort seit Monaten erleben müssen, gibt es kaum Worte. 
Lukaschenka überzieht sein Land mit einer Repressionswelle. Der Terror gegen die eigene Bevölkerung ist längst schrankenlos. Indem er nun die Schwächen des Asylsystems ausnutzt, hat er den Terror auch über die Grenzen getragen. 
Daher liegt es an uns, einen menschenrechtlichen Gegenpol zu diesem Elend zu setzen, das Lukaschenka nicht nur in Belarus verursacht, sondern weit über die eigenen Grenzen hinaus. Auch wenn die EU mit den Herkunftsländern der Geflüchteten teilweise akzeptable Lösungen gefunden hat, müssen sich jetzt alle EU-Institutionen und die Mitgliedstaaten um die Menschen kümmern, die immer noch zwischen den Grenzen in der Winterkälte unter absolut unmenschlichen Bedingungen ausharren. 
Humanität muss oberstes Gebot sein, während wir hier weiter um politische Lösungen ringen. Diese Tragödien und die anhaltenden Menschenrechtsverletzungen an der EU—Grenze müssen endlich ein Ende haben. Wir alle stehen hier in der Verantwortung als Menschen. Vor allem möchte ich aber so kurz vor Weihnachten an alle Christen appellieren, das zentrale Gebot der Menschen- und der Nächstenliebe zu achten und Menschen draußen nicht erfrieren zu lassen.
Speaker: Viola VON CRAMON-TAUBADEL (Germany — Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)
Political group: Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance
Date: 2021-12-14
Debate: Situation at the Ukrainian border and in Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine (debate)

  Viola Von Cramon-Taubadel,  on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group. – Mr President, we have seen this before. A bully blackmails its weaker neighbours while the rest of the world watches. We have seen this in April, we have seen this countless times in the history of mankind, and history teaches us that appeasing a bully is a very dangerous strategy. It is immoral and counterproductive. 
As we speak, 100 000 Russian troops are mobilised on the Ukrainian border. Their number is expected to rise dramatically. Those who know Mr Putin know that the run-up to Christmas is a particularly dangerous period. That’s why we need to remain vigilant and resolute. Ukraine is not targeted because it is a danger, but because its people stand up for European values, because they dare to be free and because they want to decide their own fate. Nothing terrifies the Kremlin more than a free, democratic nation on its own borders. 
Meanwhile, how do we react? Some still suggest that Nord Stream 2 should continue. The main export of the Kremlin is not gas, oil or arms, but chaos, as one Russian ideologue has openly stated. By increasing our dependency on Russia, we betray our allies and endanger the future of this continent. It is time for our foreign policy to show teeth and speak with bullies in a language they understand, the language of tough sanctions. Punishment of Russia must be unprecedented if it dares to start another war against Ukraine. Cut off Russia from the SWIFT system, scrap Nord Stream 2 and sanction Putin and his entourage. More importantly, show the Kremlin that bullying is counterproductive by advancing partnership with Ukraine every time the Kremlin tries to intimidate it. 
Dear colleagues, let’s practice what we preach and show Russia that, in the world of international law, might does not make right. Stand up for Ukraine.
Speaker: Viola VON CRAMON-TAUBADEL (Germany — Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)
Political group: Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance
Date: 2021-12-14
Debate: Cooperation on the fight against organised crime in the Western Balkans (debate)

  Viola Von Cramon-Taubadel,  im Namen der Verts/ALE-Fraktion. – Herr Präsident, liebe Kolleginnen und Kollegen, Herr Kommissar! Zunächst einmal alles Gute nach Österreich an unseren Berichterstatter Lukas Mandl.
When we want peace and security in our House, we have to make sure that our doorstep and our inner yard are safe and secured. The Western Balkans is precisely that doorstep for many EU Member States and the inner yard for the whole Union.
These six countries are the major transit route for money laundering, trafficking for drugs, firearms as well as human beings, which mostly involves girls that are trafficked for sexual exploitation. This has to stop, and we need a fundamentally different EU approach regarding organised crime.
Firstly, we need to be credible. The EU has to offer a significant increase in the capacities of the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex) and enhance cooperation between the Western Balkan countries and the EU Agency for Law Enforcement Training (CEPOL), Eurojust and the Group of States against Corruption (GRECO) to target transnational crime more effectively.
The EU must lead and not only follow others in their actions. Therefore, we need to make sure that those individuals who are on the US sanctions list will face sanctions in the EU, too. Kosovo should become a fully—fledged member of Interpol. Without the Crime and Corruption Reporting Network (KRIK) investigative journalist in Belgrade, we would not have known all links between the ruling elites in Serbia and Montenegro and the criminal gangs, drug lords and armed traffickers. Robust support for organisations, such as KRIK, will play an essential role in preventive and monitoring work and help to face an increasing number of strategic litigation against public participation (SLAPPs) cases, which is of utmost importance.
The region is a geopolitical relevant player for Europe. It represents a crucial element in securing EU borders management, but also the fight against transnational crime and corruption. Given the lack of clarity on Frontex engagement, the Greens will abstain on this report. Nevertheless, our commitment and our determination to reinforce the EU’s pivotal role in the Western Balkans through the common fight against organised crime remain undisputed.
Speaker: Viola VON CRAMON-TAUBADEL (Germany — Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)
Political group: Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance
Date: 2021-11-25
Debate: Human rights violations by private military and security companies, particularly the Wagner Group

  Viola Von Cramon-Taubadel,  author. – Madam President, Commissioner, dear colleagues, it is high time to speak aloud about the paid mercenaries who kill across the globe. ‘Death is our business and business is going well’. These words were patched on the arms of the 33 Wagner Group fighters arrested in Belarus last year. Russian mercenaries were on their way to another mission in Africa. They were walking into a planned operation by the Ukrainian intelligence for the crimes committed in Donbas. At the very last moment, the head of Zelensky’s administration failed the operation. Unfortunately, justice was not served at that time.
How well is the business going? If you were one of the fighters in Donbas, you were awarded EUR 10 000 per month. Others kill for EUR 300, but those are compensated for their low salaries by taking over the mineral resources of the host country, as Russian mercenaries do in Libya.
Besides being the mastermind of this industry and a close friend of President Putin, Mr Prigozhin often honours his hired killers with multi-million dollar contracts. Ukraine, Syria, Sudan, Mozambique, Libya, Central African Republic, Venezuela: people of these and other countries have suffered greatly under the crimes committed by mercenaries. The EU should respond with the strictest measures.
To do so, we need closer coordination among the EU and the NATO allies. Personal sanctions should be imposed on everyone upholding this inhuman industry. This way, we can show the Wagner Group and others that death is not a business: it is a crime against humanity and comes with grave consequences.
Speaker: Viola VON CRAMON-TAUBADEL (Germany — Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)
Political group: Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance
Date: 2021-11-24
Debate: Presentation of the Court of Auditors' annual report 2020 (debate)

  Viola Von Cramon-Taubadel,  on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group. – Madam President, President Lehne, Commissioner, colleagues, the biggest share of EU taxpayers’ money goes for the CAP, and therefore we must be most discerning and careful when using it. However, the Commission had not carried out an impact assessment for the Common Provision Regulation.
Regarding the CAP proposal, a comprehensive set of reasoned evaluations covering all aspects was not available at the time the impact assessment was prepared. Moreover, the area that is of great concern for us, the CAP’s contribution to climate action, lacks a realistic way of estimating the direct payments made to farmers. In a special report, ECA has stressed the mismatch of EU money spent on biodiversity on farmland and the very poor performance of these measures. Here we see almost no positive effect of the allocated funds. False or incorrect reporting on the true climate-related spending is generally known as greenwashing. It goes against the true goals of the EU Green Deal, NextGenerationEU and all that the EU is doing to improve the way we live and treat the environment.
Unfortunately, there is no update on the audit of the former Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš and his holding, Agrofert, for the agriculture funds he has received. His conglomerate was identified as the biggest single recipient of EU agriculture funds in 2018 and 2019, reaching over EUR 30 million each year. We have seen the very concerning conclusion of the regional and structural funds audit that confirms the Babiš conflict of interest, but we are still waiting for the agriculture funds audit, which represents an even larger proportion of Babiš’ fortune.
Yesterday’s vote on the new CAP unfortunately just confirms the wrong way in which Europe goes about agriculture and thus calls for even more rigorous, strict and law-proof control of CAP spending.
Speaker: Viola VON CRAMON-TAUBADEL (Germany — Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)
Political group: Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance
Date: 2021-11-23
Debate: Situation in Belarus and at its border with the EU and the security and humanitarian consequences (debate)

  Viola Von Cramon—Taubadel,  on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group. – Mr President, 900 political prisoners, 40 000 arrested protesters, 280 liquidated NGOs, hundreds of shut-down media, journalists thrown into jails, lawyers stripped of licences. This is the reality of people of Belarus.
Only because we do not hear these stories any more does not mean that the terror in Belarus has stopped. On the contrary, the terror is finding new ways to oppress and crush everyone with the most inhuman weight.
But bear in mind, the violence unleashed by Lukashenko is not a sign of strength. It is a desperate revenge before the regime’s collapse. Revenge on us, on our unwavering support for the people of Belarus, an attempt of Lukashenko and Putin to destabilise and divide the EU.
This is why Belavia carried out 600 extra flights, and abused the hopes of the most vulnerable people from the Middle East. Belarusian officials charged huge amounts before trapping the desperate refugees between police batons and barbed wire. This is the definition of human trafficking, a crime against humanity.
Those few here, and in some capitals, who are still naive enough to legitimise Lukashenko with a phone call, still naive enough to think that Putin is not the mastermind, they need to realise that the only language dictators understand is the language of strict sanctions and punishment. Lukashenko belongs at the tribunal. Zhyvie Belarus!
Speaker: Viola VON CRAMON-TAUBADEL (Germany — Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)
Political group: Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance
Date: 2021-11-22
Debate: EU sports policy: assessment and possible ways forward (debate)

  Viola von Cramon-Taubadel,  im Namen der Verts/ALE-Fraktion. – Frau Präsidentin, Herr Kommissar, lieber Berichterstatter! Sport kommt nicht so oft auf die Tagesordnung hier im Europäischen Parlament. Deswegen freue ich mich besonders, dass wir heute unseren gemeinsamen Bericht hier diskutieren können. 
280 Milliarden macht der Sport in der EU aus, sechs Millionen Jobs. Diese wirtschaftliche Bedeutung und die vielen zentralen Rollen in der Gesellschaft verpflichten uns aber auch, genau hinzusehen, was im Sport passiert. Und die Verpflichtung besteht insbesondere zu besonderer Sorgfaltspflicht und zu ernsthaften Kontrollen von good governance und ethischen Standards in allen Verbänden und Vereinen. 
Das ist in der Vergangenheit nicht immer so gut gelaufen, wenn wir an die Dopingfälle, systematischen Betrug, aber auch an die Missbrauchsfälle denken, die wir jeden Tag wieder in den Medien sehen. Und was passiert eigentlich mit den hohen, extrem hohen Investitionen, vor allem im Profifußball, oft durch externe Dritte, durch osteuropäische Oligarchen, reiche Ölstaaten oder andere Autokratien? Das birgt eine große Gefahr, dass hier auch politischer Einfluss eingekauft wird und sich gerade der Fußball immer stärker von der Idee des Sports entfernt. 
Damit sich das ändert, müssen die EU-Institutionen strukturierter zusammenarbeiten, und wir hier im Europäischen Parlament brauchen verbindliche Kontrollinstrumente, damit der Sport durch die kommerziellen Interessen nicht ausgehöhlt wird. 
Richtig ist: Breitensport und Bewegungsförderung sind wichtig für die Gesunderhaltung. Leider: 59 % der EU-Bürgerinnen und Bürger bewegen sich selten oder nie. Das heißt, da gibt es noch viel zu tun. Ich finde es gut, dass wir es geschafft haben, aus dem Corona-Wiederaufbaufonds auch Gelder für den Sport zu deklarieren. 
Ich möchte aber nicht schließen, ohne auf den aktuellen Fall der Tennisspielerin aus China zurückzukommen, an dem man wieder sieht, dass wir auch die internationalen, die Spitzenathletinnen und —Athleten vor den eigenen Verbänden schützen müssen. Das unsägliche Videostatement von Thomas Bach, dem Präsidenten des Internationalen Olympischen Komitees, hat gezeigt, dass er nicht verstanden hat, worum es geht. Es kann nicht sein, dass sich die internationale Sportvereinigung, die für den Schutz der Athleten da ist, an die Seite der Autokratien stellt, wie sie es auch schon bei Belarus getan hat. Liebe Kolleginnen und Kollegen, lasst uns dazu klar Stellung beziehen! Das darf so nicht weitergehen.
Speaker: Viola VON CRAMON-TAUBADEL (Germany — Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)
Political group: Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance
Date: 2021-11-10
Debate: The escalating humanitarian crisis on the EU-Belarusian border, in particular in Poland (debate)

  Viola Von Cramon-Taubadel (Verts/ALE).   – Madam President, Lukashenko has reached another low of inhumanity: after beating, torturing and murdering his own people, Lukashenko has now started using the desperate hope for a better life of people from outside, feeding them with false promises, to trap people on the Belarus—Polish border.
It is naive to think that Lukashenko is acting alone in his despicable campaign. Without backing from the Kremlin, this would be impossible. Our challenge will be to act united, and we should not outsource these questions to our neighbours, like Ukraine or Moldova. It is our task in the European Union to solve this. 
Firstly, European instruments, in particular, also need to be present at the Polish border. We all have to uphold European values, including the safety of migrants and their dignity. Oversight and transparency at the external borders must work everywhere in the European Union, also in Poland. Secondly, the fifth package of sanctions should be swift, tough and decisive. We need to target all industries assisting Lukashenko’s regime. Any Member State that waters down the sanctions is complicit in the avoidable suffering of thousands of migrants. Lastly, we need to engage actively in the countries of migrants’ origin. There is already a cooperative approach with Iraq, but others have to follow.