← LEADERSHIP TERMINAL

EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT · SITTING

Fidias Panayiotou

Member of the European Parliament · NI · CY

IN THEIR OWN WORDS

Madam President, the EU leaders are very concerned about the situation in Palestine. They are so concerned, that several EU countries are still selling weapons to Israel while they continue attacking Palestinians and the Lebanese people.

PLENARY SITTING OF 2026-07-08 · READ THE VERBATIM REPORT

Mr President, banks are taking the homes of thousands of citizens inside the European Union. This has been happening in my country, Cyprus, where, for more than 30 years, banks keep having abusive contract terms in loan agreements. Even though this goes completely against EU law, the Cypriot Government does nothing to enforce it.

PLENARY SITTING OF 2026-04-28 · READ THE VERBATIM REPORT

And it does act – like we did in the case of Greece, when we started an infringement procedure only two days after I assumed the responsibility at the EU Commission, and like we did in the case of Spain.

PLENARY SITTING OF 2026-03-12 · READ THE VERBATIM REPORT

Madam President, hello friends, let's put this topic to a context. It has been three years that this Tempi accident happened and three million people in Greece are protesting every year about this topic. These people are not crazy. This is 30 % of the population of Greece. So, there is something going on wrong here.

PLENARY SITTING OF 2026-03-12 · READ THE VERBATIM REPORT

– Madam President, honourable Members, first of all, thank you for your contributions. I have listened carefully to your interventions today. Allow me to briefly summarise what, in my view, is required to ensure that train travel in Europe remains safe. First, everyone must understand that safety is a shared responsibility.

PLENARY SITTING OF 2026-03-12 · READ THE VERBATIM REPORT

The Commission has already proposed increased funding for investments in modern railway infrastructure, and we will ensure that this funding is linked to the timely deployment of ERTMS.

PLENARY SITTING OF 2026-03-12 · READ THE VERBATIM REPORT

The complete record

Every one of 53 lines we hold for Fidias Panayiotou, in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account. Page 1 of 2.

  1. Madam President, the EU leaders are very concerned about the situation in Palestine. They are so concerned, that several EU countries are still selling weapons to Israel while they continue attacking Palestinians and the Lebanese people. I wish this was not true, but the reality is that EU countries keep selling weapons to Israel for millions of euros in 2026. This is crazy to me. Our leaders use words to say how concerned they are about Palestine, while their actions show they are just being complicit in Israel's destabilisation of the Middle East. But I have good news: I know the EU loves sanctions. We have to put 20 packages of sanctions to Russia. Maybe it's time to pressure Israel a little bit by stopping selling weapons to them. 3-0027-0000

    PLENARY SITTING OF 2026-07-08 · READ THE VERBATIM REPORT

  2. Mr President, banks are taking the homes of thousands of citizens inside the European Union. This has been happening in my country, Cyprus, where, for more than 30 years, banks keep having abusive contract terms in loan agreements. Even though this goes completely against EU law, the Cypriot Government does nothing to enforce it. But there is a solution: citizens should have the right to appeal to court to stop a foreclosure if they believe there were abusive clauses in their loan agreement. This is basically one of the proposals made by the Cypriot Parliament. But our President, Nikos Christodoulides, refuses to sign it. This is completely unacceptable! If we make regulations here to protect the EU citizens, but they are not being respected in the Member States, then what are we doing here? Thank you so much. I love you all. 2-0400-0000

    PLENARY SITTING OF 2026-04-28 · READ THE VERBATIM REPORT

  3. Together, we must continue strengthening railway safety all across Europe. I want to reassure you that safety is my absolute and non-negotiable priority. 4-0111-0000

    PLENARY SITTING OF 2026-03-12 · READ THE VERBATIM REPORT

  4. The Commission has already proposed increased funding for investments in modern railway infrastructure, and we will ensure that this funding is linked to the timely deployment of ERTMS. Fourth, when accidents do occur, we must contribute to ensure independent and thorough investigations because we know that however painful the process may be, we learn from the truth and we owe justice to the victims and their families. We are waiting for the European and national judiciary and the courts to find those who were responsible for these two tragedies and hold them accountable. Honourable Members of the European Parliament, it is in this spirit that we will continue working together with all of you, the TRAN Committee, the Member States and, of course, all the stakeholders involved.

    PLENARY SITTING OF 2026-03-12 · READ THE VERBATIM REPORT

  5. And it does act – like we did in the case of Greece, when we started an infringement procedure only two days after I assumed the responsibility at the EU Commission, and like we did in the case of Spain. Second, I support the calls made for a stronger role for the European Union Agency for Railways, for ERA, and I intend to propose a stronger mandate for ERA in the second half of 2026 – one that will allow it to carry out more frequent checks to ensure effective follow up and also to provide support, training and capacity-building where it is needed. Our objective here is very clear: to prevent accidents and to continue improving safety outcomes across the European railway system. Third, we must fully use the tools that technology offers us and, in particular, the European Rail Traffic Management System – the ERTMS.

    PLENARY SITTING OF 2026-03-12 · READ THE VERBATIM REPORT

  6. – Madam President, honourable Members, first of all, thank you for your contributions. I have listened carefully to your interventions today. Allow me to briefly summarise what, in my view, is required to ensure that train travel in Europe remains safe. First, everyone must understand that safety is a shared responsibility. Operators and infrastructure managers are supervised by the national safety authorities. National safety authorities and Member States ministries are supervised by the European Union Agency for Railways – ERA. ERA, in turn, is supervised by the European Commission. If ERA and the Commission find that national safety authorities are too weak or do not have the necessary competence and resources, then Member States must take action. If they don't take action, the Commission must act.

    PLENARY SITTING OF 2026-03-12 · READ THE VERBATIM REPORT

  7. Madam President, hello friends, let's put this topic to a context. It has been three years that this Tempi accident happened and three million people in Greece are protesting every year about this topic. These people are not crazy. This is 30 % of the population of Greece. So, there is something going on wrong here. We need the European Union to help force the government to take the necessary steps. There are suspicions that there was flammable material inside the Tempi train, so that is the big problem. I want to thank you because this debate was done based on 36 signatures that we collected. Thank you so much and thank you to The Left that put this debate as well. Thank you for this. We love you all. 4-0109-0000 (Fine della procedura "catch the eye") 4-0110-0000 Apostolos Tzitzikostas, Member of the Commission.

    PLENARY SITTING OF 2026-03-12 · READ THE VERBATIM REPORT

  8. I truly believe that it's both possible to be against the authoritarian regime in Iran and at the same time against the illegal military actions by our allies. So please, colleagues, let's speak up and clearly say 'no' to war. 3-0103-0000 Brīvais mikrofons 3-0104-0000

    PLENARY SITTING OF 2026-03-11 · READ THE VERBATIM REPORT

  9. Mr President, the European Union doesn't care anymore about international law, as most EU leaders have failed to condemn the attacks of Israel and the United States against Iran. We can't defend international law only when it benefits us, like it happens in the war in Ukraine. But we need to be critical when our allies violate it on a regular basis. Even if EU leaders don't care about morals, at least they should care about European citizens, because they are the ones that are going to pay the consequences of this illegal war. An energy crisis will hit every single European household. And on top of this, EU citizens in my country, Cyprus, fear for their lives because Iran could keep retaliating with more drone attacks.

    PLENARY SITTING OF 2026-03-11 · READ THE VERBATIM REPORT

  10. Don't get me wrong: I'm in favour of good relations with Türkiye, but the EU should leverage its position to push Türkiye into restoring democracy and resuming talks with my country so we can finally solve the Cyprus problem. Thank you so much. I love you all! 3-0614-0000

    PLENARY SITTING OF 2026-02-11 · READ THE VERBATIM REPORT

  11. Mr President, the Turkish Government jails its political opposition. It commits thousands of airspace violations in EU territory. And the biggest thing is that it is still illegally occupying my country, Cyprus, since the invasion in 1974. But it seems this is not enough for it, because it keeps disappointing us by deporting foreign journalists and Christian missionaries. These are only some of the authoritarian policies taken by the Turkish Government, but the EU, instead of imposing sanctions – as we do in the case of Russia – is now proposing to create deeper ties with Türkiye. If the EU doesn't want to have double standards, it should change its attitude with Türkiye, just like it did with Russia.

    PLENARY SITTING OF 2026-02-11 · READ THE VERBATIM REPORT

  12. Madam President, my country Cyprus just took the presidency of the Council of the European Union. For such a small country with a population of 1 million it is a huge honour to work for all 450 million European citizens. There are many priorities to work on, like the territorial integrity of Ukraine and Greenland. But I believe the territorial integrity of Cyprus should also be a top priority of the European Union. We are a Member State that has been actively occupied by Turkey for 51 years. The Cypriot Presidency is an opportunity for the European Union to finally put the Cyprus problem as a top priority, in order to find a just and vital solution, because the Cyprus problem is also a European problem. I love you all. 2-0104-0000

    PLENARY SITTING OF 2026-01-20 · READ THE VERBATIM REPORT

  13. – I am not sure if I understood your question. You asked how many likes and how many shares I got from these platforms. We upload videos to all the platforms and, so far, we got billions of views talking about the most boring thing – the European Union – on all the platforms. I do not understand really your question, but I think X and Telegram took some good steps closer to freedom of speech. Before Elon Musk acquired X, I think other platforms got inspired, like Meta, to use these 'community notes' and all this stuff. So, I think it was a step to the right direction. Still, we need to improve fact‑checkers. It is not the end of the story. Thank you so much, I love you all. 4-0065-0000

    PLENARY SITTING OF 2025-12-18 · READ THE VERBATIM REPORT

  14. So please, von der Leyen, let Europeans express themselves freely even if you do not like their opinion. Thank you so much, I love you all. (The speaker agreed to take a blue-card question) 4-0063-0000 Pierre Jouvet (S&D), question «carton bleu». – Monsieur Panayiotou, cher collègue, si j’en crois votre profil, avant d’arriver ici, vous étiez ce qu’on appelle un «influenceur». Je viens d’entendre à l’instant le propos que vous tenez et la défense, notamment, de ces plateformes et d’Elon Musk. J’ai une question simple: pour tenir ces propos dans cet hémicycle: combien de likes? combien de partages? et qu’avez vous gagné de la part de ces plateformes? Il faudrait peut-être un peu de transparence, parce que votre défense de ces plateformes devient louche. 4-0064-0000 Fidias Panayiotou (NI), blue-card answer.

    PLENARY SITTING OF 2025-12-18 · READ THE VERBATIM REPORT

  15. Mr President, the EU wants to use censorship to protect our democracy. This is the essence behind the last proposal of our President, Ursula von der Leyen, to build a Democracy Shield with tools that go directly against freedom of speech. Von der Leyen wants to reinforce sanctions against individuals based on their opinions if she considers they are misinforming. On top of this, our President wants to give more power to fact‑checkers to moderate social media, who are nothing else that people with their own biases. I believe we should follow people like Pavel Durov and Elon Musk have done to allow more freedom of speech online. Things like 'community notes' have helped to empower the citizens themselves to decide what is right and what is wrong, instead of biased fact‑checkers.

    PLENARY SITTING OF 2025-12-18 · READ THE VERBATIM REPORT

  16. Madam President, the EU is falling again to hypocrisy and double standards. I agree with all of you that it's a very serious issue that Russia violated the airspace of the EU around 40 times this year, but I'm shocked that none of you is pointing out that Türkiye did the exact same thing against my country, Cyprus, more than 1 000 times only in 2024. Greece and Cyprus suffer these airspace violations by Türkiye every single week. But this is not what we are debating about in the Parliament today. Instead, we are putting our focus on the violation of our airspace by Russia while we stay silent about the same actions made by Türkiye. So to start fixing these double standards of the EU, I propose to you that the next plenary session in the Parliament will have a debate about Türkiye's violation of airspace.

    PLENARY SITTING OF 2025-11-26 · READ THE VERBATIM REPORT

  17. Mr President, in 1974, my country, Cyprus, was invaded by Turkey, which since then occupies 37 % of the island. Nine years after the invasion, the so‑called authorities in the north declare illegally their independence. I condemn this act and any act to legitimise it. Let me ask you, dear colleagues, is the EU actually caring about the Cyprus problem? Well, let me tell you what most Cypriots think: that the answer is no. Instead of speaking about the occupation of Cyprus – which is an EU country – here we constantly speak about the occupation of Ukraine. Instead of imposing sanctions on Turkey like we do in Russia, we decide to give them billions of euros through accession funds and we keep buying their weapons. This, my friends, is hypocrisy. Our moral compass is broken. Let's fix it. 1-0222-0000 Catch-the-eye procedure 1-0223-0000

    PLENARY SITTING OF 2025-11-12 · READ THE VERBATIM REPORT

  18. Mr President, the European Union is becoming bigger, and I think, in general, this is good news. In a world with big powers like United States, China, Russia and India, our small European countries must stay united to survive, develop and compete. But, of course, more countries joining the EU will mean slower decision-making. Let's be honest, our bureaucracy and decision-making are huge and slow, so that we can't take decisions as fast as other world powers. Even our 27 leaders cannot manage to agree on important topics. How will we manage when we are 30 or 40 countries in the EU? I believe that for the EU not to become even slower, we first need to reform it from the inside, but before more countries join the club. So this way we'll be able to compete and stay relevant in the most important battles, such as artificial intelligence.

    PLENARY SITTING OF 2025-10-21 · READ THE VERBATIM REPORT

  19. So, our role as the European Union should be to keep pressuring the governments of Israel and the United States to respect all the points of the peace plan and make sure that the final result is the long-awaited two-state solution. I love you all. 2-0211-0000

    PLENARY SITTING OF 2025-10-07 · READ THE VERBATIM REPORT

  20. Madam President, finally, we have a peace plan for Gaza after millions of citizens across the world took to the streets and put pressure to their governments. Even though this is overall good news, we still need to be very careful. This is because we shouldn't forget that the creators of this peace plan are Trump and Netanyahu. These are the same people who are still committing the biggest genocide of the 21st century against the Palestinians. The same people who are absolutely opposed to a two-state solution. The same people that might be ready to start a new colonial time in Gaza if this peace plan is not implemented properly.

    PLENARY SITTING OF 2025-10-07 · READ THE VERBATIM REPORT

  21. We have to demand the immediate and unconditional release of all five, and made it clear that human rights are not negotiable. I love you all. 3-0555-0000

    PLENARY SITTING OF 2025-09-10 · READ THE VERBATIM REPORT

  22. Mr President, a shameful injustice is happening in my country, Cyprus. Five of my Greek Cypriot compatriots have been illegally detained in the occupied areas for the apparent crime of visiting their own property, which they were forced to abandon after the Turkish invasion in 1974. With no credible evidence, an unrecognised military court is accusing them of illegal entry and espionage. But, guys, let's be clear: this is not only a violation of their fundamental rights; this is also a direct attack on the efforts for unification – because how can we have peace when people are treated like criminals for visiting what is rightfully theirs? Several weeks later, three of them have now been released, only under strict conditions, but this is not enough. As Europe, we must act.

    PLENARY SITTING OF 2025-09-10 · READ THE VERBATIM REPORT

  23. European Union – you were not in Cyprus when we needed you the most, and this needs to change. I love you all. 2-0230-0000

    PLENARY SITTING OF 2025-09-09 · READ THE VERBATIM REPORT

  24. Mr President, my country, Cyprus, faced the biggest wildfire in the last 50 years, and the European Union did almost nothing to help us. If you look at Cyprus on the map, you can very easily understand the main problem: we are too far away from continental Europe. This means all the help sent from the EU doesn't reach us on time. This is such a big issue. With this wildfire, we actually received more help from third countries like Jordan, Egypt, Israel and Lebanon than from the EU countries. This is not a good look for the European Union, and us Cypriots feel abandoned by the EU. Don't get me wrong; we are very grateful for all the help, but sadly it is not enough. We need more investment for prevention through the EU Cohesion Fund and more firefighting equipment in Cyprus through the rescEU programme.

    PLENARY SITTING OF 2025-09-09 · READ THE VERBATIM REPORT

  25. But here comes the European Commission and, instead of listening to its citizens, it proposes to use its cohesion funds for re-armament and war. I will be very clear with my message: forget about using our money for warmongering, be more creative. Thank you, I love you all. 4-0105-0000

    PLENARY SITTING OF 2025-07-10 · READ THE VERBATIM REPORT

  26. Madam President, the European Union wants to take money from its development funds and use it for war. Yes, my friends, it's true: the European Union intends to take money from its cohesion policy, which accounts for 30 % of its total budget. This budget is meant for the development of Europe's poorest regions, but they will use part of it for defence, which essentially means war. In fact, the reason why we are here today in the European Parliament debating it is because of an initiative signed by more than 1.2 million European citizens who have got together to give a clear message to us, the European politicians: they want our cohesion policy to focus on the development of our regions and the preservation of their culture.

    PLENARY SITTING OF 2025-07-10 · READ THE VERBATIM REPORT

  27. If we get energy right, we will make Europeans richer and improve everyone's quality of life. I love you all. 3-0373-0000

    PLENARY SITTING OF 2025-06-18 · READ THE VERBATIM REPORT

  28. Mr President, energy is the backbone of our economy. From driving our cars to taking a shower and even powering the AI factories of tomorrow, everything depends on reliable energy. We need to reduce the cost of energy. To achieve this we must invest heavily in nuclear power. I know people have concerns, but nuclear is safer than you might think. We need to focus also on renewables – especially solar energy – and, just as importantly, on batteries to store the energy so we always have the power, day and night. We must also recognise that not all countries start from the same place. Current green regulations and timelines are often too aggressive, leaving little room for regions still heavily dependent on fossil fuels to catch up – like my country, Cyprus.

    PLENARY SITTING OF 2025-06-18 · READ THE VERBATIM REPORT

  29. Whatever we say in our speeches is useless if our actions will continue to provide the genocidal state of Israel with weapons. Please, friends, Europe, history is watching us. 2-0563-0000

    PLENARY SITTING OF 2025-06-17 · READ THE VERBATIM REPORT

  30. Mr President, High Representative/Vice-President, the speech I will make right now will not help any Palestinian in Gaza. This is because in the European Union, we love to speak about Gaza, but we don't take actions to actually help the genocide that is taking place right now. Instead, the only actions that we take are to help Netanyahu on his mission to kill more and more Palestinians. Germany is the second-biggest provider of weapons for Israel after our biggest ally, the United States. Yes, my friends, about 30% of the weapons bought by Israel come from Germany, weapons that are being used for the killing of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza. We cannot allow this any longer. The EU must stop the trade in weapons with Israel right now.

    PLENARY SITTING OF 2025-06-17 · READ THE VERBATIM REPORT

  31. Madam President, I will try to convince you in less than a minute why freedom of speech is under attack in Europe. Freedom of speech is only relevant when someone that you don't like says something that you don't like, right? In Europe, the person – the country – that we don't like now is Russia, and we ban their media. So this is a sign that freedom of speech in Europe is under attack. It is all under this word: 'misinformation'. Misinformation in the past was labelled in an incorrect way. So 'misinformation' is a tricky word. This is my first time that I'm trying to do a speech without a text, and I missed it. But I will improve and I will learn, and I will come back the next time. I run out of time. I love you all. 3-0461-0000

    PLENARY SITTING OF 2025-05-07 · READ THE VERBATIM REPORT

  32. Ukrainians are dying. We need to start diplomacy. This is what we need to do. It doesn't cost a lot. We are trying to rearm Europe with EUR 800 billion, and talking is free. This is what we should do, I think. Thank you, I love you all. 3-0033-0000

    PLENARY SITTING OF 2025-05-07 · READ THE VERBATIM REPORT

  33. (The speaker agreed to take a blue-card question) 3-0031-0000 Moritz Körner (Renew), blue-card question. – Thank you for accepting my blue card. I want to ask you, have you been to Ukraine once? Have you visited? Have you seen what's happening there? What you do here, and with the massive media outreach you have, especially for young people in Europe, I think it would be your responsibility also to look at what's happening there and not doing whataboutism, which you did right now with this speech. Talk about Ukrainians, see what's happening there, and then talk again with us about what's happening there. 3-0032-0000 Fidias Panayiotou (NI), blue-card answer. – Thank you for your feedback. I've been to Ukraine and I'm going in a few days to Russia as well. The goal of going to Russia is to show that we need to talk and solve this problem.

    PLENARY SITTING OF 2025-05-07 · READ THE VERBATIM REPORT

  34. Mr President, the moral compass of the EU is completely broken. Since 2022, the EU has sent EUR 138 billion to Ukraine in military and humanitarian aid. We have cut diplomatic ties with Russia and imposed the biggest amount of sanctions in history, a quite clear and powerful response. On the other hand, when it comes to Palestine, our stance is completely different. The Israeli Government is conducting a brutal genocide, and people are even starving to death due to the blockade the last two months. Despite all of this, the EU maintains normal relations with Israel – no big sanctions, no cutting of diplomatic ties. Many EU leaders met with Netanyahu, like the President of my country, Cyprus, recently did. But none of you will even consider meeting and just talking with Putin. Just let me ask you, where is our moral consistency?

    PLENARY SITTING OF 2025-05-07 · READ THE VERBATIM REPORT

  35. Mr President, Kaja Kallas is basically the foreign minister of the EU, and I think she can help my country Cyprus. Cyprus has been divided since the Turkish invasion in 1974 and, as a result, the two communities – Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots – are living now separately. This problem remains to this day, unsolved. So I believe it's the job of Kaja Kallas to go to Türkiye and speak with President Erdoğan in order to defend the interest of Cypriots as citizens of the Union that she serves. I believe Kaja Kallas spends a lot of her time and effort towards Ukraine, which is not even a member of the EU. But what message does that send to EU citizens like us in Cyprus, still in a divided land? Kaja Kallas must make Cyprus a priority so we can show the world that the EU stands by its people. 2-0495-0000

    PLENARY SITTING OF 2025-05-06 · READ THE VERBATIM REPORT

  36. Madam President, colleagues, today many people in this Chamber want strict rules for artificial intelligence. They talk about risks – like losing jobs, fake news or AI getting out of control – but I ask you: since when has being scared helped us move forward? AI can help us cure diseases, teach millions and fight climate change. If we block it too early, we will stop something great before it even begins. That's like banning electricity just because someone got shocked. We need to guide AI, yes, but not trap it in fear. And if you are still unsure about what AI can do, here is something to think about. This is not me speaking: this whole speech was written by AI. 1-0226-0000

    PLENARY SITTING OF 2025-05-05 · READ THE VERBATIM REPORT

  37. But let me be clear, I will never shy away from raising my voice and recalibrating our engagement when democracy is in danger in a candidate country. Human rights are non-negotiable, and this is the respect we owe to Türkiye and its people, and this is the respect that we owe to Europe, to us Europeans. 2-0509-0000

    PLENARY SITTING OF 2025-04-01 · READ THE VERBATIM REPORT

  38. But our future relations will be measured through the commitment to democratic norms and practices, what is expected from an EU candidate country. During times of geopolitical tension with war on our continent, conflict surrounding it and rising authoritarian tendencies around the world, it is crucial that we uphold to the values that define us. These values are important also for numerous citizens who gather in the streets in Türkiye and express their disagreement with the decisions of their authorities. Democratic values and principles are not only the foundation of the European Union, but also the core of all open societies. Türkiye is and will remain a strategic partner to the EU, and it is also a very important economic partner. And you are right, Mr Malik Azmani, we will organise the high-level dialogue on the economy.

    PLENARY SITTING OF 2025-04-01 · READ THE VERBATIM REPORT

  39. 2-0507-0000 (Fine della procedura "catch the eye") 2-0508-0000 Marta Kos, Member of the Commission, on behalf of the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. – Madam President, dear honourable Members, today's debate was needed and very timely. As an EU candidate country and long-standing member of the Council of Europe, Türkiye must uphold democratic principles and values, especially the rights of elected officials. We expect authorities in Ankara to ensure the respect to those fundamental principles in the face of the most severe security challenges to our continent in our lifetime. It is in our interest to keep Türkiye anchored to Europe and we will continue engaging.

    PLENARY SITTING OF 2025-04-01 · READ THE VERBATIM REPORT

  40. Madam President, I'm from Cyprus. Cyprus had an invasion 50 years ago from Türkiye. I'm a bit sad here in the European Parliament because I feel that there is not enough support for Cyprus to solve our problem that we have had for so many years. We talk every week, every day here about Ukraine, and Ukraine is not even a Member State of the EU. So now it's a pivotal point because negotiations started again in Cyprus to solve the Cyprus problem. So now is the time for the EU to put a lot of pressure in Türkiye, because it's the key player here to solve the problem in Cyprus. And a lot of people in Cyprus are not very happy with Europe, because we don't have the support that we want for so many years to solve the problem. Thank you and I love you all.

    PLENARY SITTING OF 2025-04-01 · READ THE VERBATIM REPORT

  41. Mr President, we have a big problem here in Europe. A 'democratic' and 'independent' media outlet, Radio Free Europe, might close because the US might stop funding it. And here in Europe we are panicking and we are even thinking to use taxpayers' money to save it. But let's be honest, how 'independent' and 'democratic' can a media be if it's funded by a foreign government? But I'm afraid that the real question is this: are we scared of losing the truth or losing control over it? I believe democracy is not about controlling the narrative. It's about trusting people to choose their own. I love you all. 2-0448-0000

    PLENARY SITTING OF 2025-04-01 · READ THE VERBATIM REPORT

  42. It's really important for protection of our democracy. So thank you so much for your debate and for your contributions. 1-0215-0000

    PLENARY SITTING OF 2025-03-31 · READ THE VERBATIM REPORT

  43. I love you all. 1-0213-0000 (End of catch-the-eye procedure) 1-0214-0000 Ekaterina Zaharieva, Member of the Commission. – Madam President, honourable Members of the Parliament, thank you for really a lively debate. And it shows that this topic was a bit emotional in some of the statements, but it's really important. It's very, very important to protect our democracy. And it is a crucial moment. So thank you so much for your contributions. And I can assure you that the Commission has really remained very committed to deliver a really good democracy shield with a broad consultation. As I stated, the public consultation was opened today and will continue eight weeks. And it's the commitment for us to ensure democratic pluralism, fight with corruption, transparency and strengthened integrity.

    PLENARY SITTING OF 2025-03-31 · READ THE VERBATIM REPORT

  44. Madam President, hello friends, I'm quite proud to say that the European Parliament is very transparent. And you can all, all the people, the European citizens and everyone in the world, they can go in the website and they can find our salaries, they can find how much budget we are allowed to use, how much money we can spend, and this is very good. It builds trust and it's transparent. And it also builds expectations for the citizens. But I'm unhappy because the European Commission doesn't have the same procedure. When you go to the Commissioners, you cannot see the salaries of the staff, how much budget they have and all this stuff. So this is not as transparent the European Commission. So I encourage the European Commission to be like the European Parliament, a lot more transparent, because this will build a lot of trust.

    PLENARY SITTING OF 2025-03-31 · READ THE VERBATIM REPORT

  45. Now, more than ever, we should act independently from the United States in order to stop the genocide of Palestinians and finally achieve a two‑state solution. 2-0601-0000

    PLENARY SITTING OF 2025-03-11 · READ THE VERBATIM REPORT

  46. Madam President, it's time for Palestinians to have their own state. Most countries around the world support a two‑state solution for the Israel-Palestine conflict, but the biggest obstacle for this to really happen is the United States. The United States has used its veto power in the United Nations Security Council dozens of time to block resolutions to recognise a Palestinian state. Alongside the United States, only eight other countries have refused to recognise Palestine. On the other hand, 143 countries around the world recognise Palestine, many of them represented here in the European Parliament. I believe the EU should push for a two‑state solution and challenge its biggest ally.

    PLENARY SITTING OF 2025-03-11 · READ THE VERBATIM REPORT

  47. Madam President, AI will replace most jobs and we are not ready for it. Self-driving cars are replacing drivers. AI models are replacing software developers. Robots are replacing factory workers. Jobs will be disappearing, and the hard part is that we cannot really predict which ones will disappear and when. Europe needs to prepare for these big changes, and the way to do it is to fundamentally transform education. Our current education systems were created long ago, mainly to turn children into obedient factory workers. But now times are changing. Soon factories will not need human workers anymore. Even though we refuse to acknowledge it, today children mostly learn online by themselves. Perhaps the solution to fix education is to listen to them carefully and embrace their ways.

    PLENARY SITTING OF 2025-02-11 · READ THE VERBATIM REPORT

  48. Please continue to fund this project, which not only brings peace to families like mine, but also encourages cooperation between the two communities of the island, increasing the chance of a potential solution to the Cyprus problem. 1-0171-0000

    PLENARY SITTING OF 2025-02-10 · READ THE VERBATIM REPORT

  49. Mr President, my uncle has been missing since the Turkish invasion of my country, Cyprus, in 1974. This had a huge impact on my family. My father was seven years old when he witnessed a suicide attempt by my grandmother because she couldn't handle it. My uncle is one of the 2 000 Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots who had disappeared, mainly during the Turkish invasion in 1974 and the intercommunal fighting of 1964. The remains of these communities' people are being searched for by communal committee, and by today half of them have been identified and returned to their relatives, who, unlike my grandmother, were lucky enough to live until that day of relief. I want to thank the European Union because it is the biggest funder of this committee, giving so far EUR 35 million.

    PLENARY SITTING OF 2025-02-10 · READ THE VERBATIM REPORT

  50. – I'm not saying that everything is being censored. I'm just saying there are things that have been censored in the past, and it's proven in the U.S. that the government was interfering to censor stuff. So we need to have a proper discussion and understand what is censored in Europe, because this accusation from these people that own these platforms, that we institutionalise censorship, are very important. 2-0038-0000

    PLENARY SITTING OF 2025-01-21 · READ THE VERBATIM REPORT