Parliament Mission to Latin America

Iratxe García

The leader of the Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament, Iratxe García, will lead a mission to Latin America aimed at strengthening cooperation with leaders in three key countries: Brazil, Chile and Argentina. Iratxe García will be travelling with S&D vice-president for foreign affairs Pedro Marques; S&D MEP Javi López, co-chair of the Euro-Latin…

Senior MEP Calls on the EU to Stop Granting Visas to Russian Citizens,

Anna Fotyga

Anna Fotyga was commenting on the current question of whether Russian citizens should be banned from entering the European Union. ECR Coordinator for Foreign Affairs Fotyga said:”We need to understand that this war is not Putin’s war alone.”  “It is unacceptable that citizens of an aggressive country enjoy themselves in the EU while their troops kill…

Anniversary of Russian Invasion of Georgia

Anna Fotyga

The 14th anniversary of the Russian invasion of Georgia was commemorated last Friday, sparking comparison with the war in Ukraine. Addressing the European Parliament, the  ECR Group Foreign Affairs Coordinator Anna Fotyga said, “Fourteen years ago, the Russian Federation invaded Georgia, triggering the first war of the twenty-first century in Europe. Only  the strong commitment of…

Hungarian PM Orbán Branded Racist

Magyar Tribes from the Urals

European parliament political group leaders have adopted a statement condemning what they called the “openly racist” declarations by Hungarian PM Viktor Orbán and underlined that these declarations are in breach of EU values. A  strongly worded statement of the Conference of Presidents – group leaders – was issued on Saturday. It reads, “We, the leaders…

Metsola Addresses Ukraine’s Parliament

European Parliament President Roberta Metsola addressed Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada as part of the country’s Statehood Day celebrations.  Thank you for having me with you here today. It is a privilege, but more importantly it is a responsibility for me, as the President of the European Parliament to again have the honour of addressing the Verkhovna…

EU Reduction Measures for Gas

von der Leyen

Commission president Ursula von der Leyen has welcomed a deal on coordinated demand reduction measures for gas. She said, “The EU has taken a decisive step to face down the threat of a full gas disruption by Putin. I strongly welcome the endorsement by Council of the Council Regulation on coordinated demand reduction measures for…

Preparing for Winter

Dan Nica

The S&D Group in the European Parliament said it considers the Winter Preparedness Action Plan, presented by the European Commission, as a “timely and yet insufficient step.” They say it can “go towards solving a possible energy crisis, that might hit our continent long before the cold months, due to the current heat wave in Europe and the increased…

Much Ado About Almost Nothing

Butikofer

The latest talks between the EU and China have been dismissed as “Much ado about almost nothing”. German MEP  Reinhard Bütikofer, China expert of the Greens/EFA group in the European Parliament, was commenting on the 9th High Level Economic and Trade Dialogue between the EU and the PRC. The Greens deputy said, “The EU-China Economic and Trade Dialogue can…

Vulnerable Households and the Energy Crisis

Vulnerable households

Vulnerable households, already under severe cost of living pressure, have been “effectively ignored” by a commission plans for dealing with the energy crisis, says the European Left Group. It says new measures, drafted in collaboration with Europe’s major energy corporations, confirm that the EU is set to double down on its commitment to a failed…

Uber’s Oppression of Workers’ Rights

Uber

Following the revelations of the Uber files published in European media, the Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament have now called for considering platform workers as employees with all applicable rights.  The unprecedented leak spans more than 5 years and 124,000 documents and exposed the ethically questionable practices of Uber. The S&Ds have spearheaded…