On Thursday, Parliament adopted a resolution on violations of fundamental freedoms in Hong Kong. Parliament condemned in the strongest terms the deterioration of human rights in Hong Kong, including severe restrictions on freedom of expression, freedom of association and press freedom. MEPs called on the Hong Kong government to release all political prisoners and drop…
Sham election shows communist state has no respect for Western values, writes Jianli Yang. Anxious to establish a new world order with China at its centre, Beijing is now coining new definitions for time-tested values and attributes to suit its selfish goal. In Tibet, for instance, it has come up with a call to develop…
ECR MEP Roberts Zīle has been elected as Vice-President of the European Parliament. The announcement came with the results of the second ballot of votes to elect the 14 Vice-Presidents, whereby MEP Zīle received a majority of 403 votes from his colleagues from across the chamber. Following Mr Zīle’s election, Co-Chairman of the ECR Group Ryszard…
The Greens/EFA Group have congratulated Roberta Metsola on her election as President of the European Parliament and offer “critical and constructive” cooperation. The Greens/EFA Group called on all political groups in the European Parliament to ensure proportional representation of the democratic groups of the European Parliament when electing the European Parliament Vice-Presidents. The Greens/EFA Group…
European Parliament President David Sassoli passed away in Aviano (Italy) on 11 January. A Member of the European Parliament since 2009, he was elected President in July 2019 for the first half of the legislature. President Sassoli adopted extraordinary measures enabling the European Parliament to carry out its duties and exercise its prerogatives under the…
Fresh calls for a boycott were made at an online event organised to help shed light on China’s continuing human rights abuses. A boycott is seen by some as a step too far, given the symbolic importance of such an act. But the event in Brussels was told that Member States and the EU institutions,…
This year, for example, the 2021 Taipei International Food Show featured Lithuanian products. But there was also a political dimension to Lithuania’s participation as it also demonstrated the solidarity between Lithuania and Taiwan, and their strong commitment to upholding democracy against pressures from authoritarianism. The annual international food show featured the first-ever Lithuanian pavilion, one of…
The most effective response to the resurgence of COVID-19 is vaccination, say MEPs, addressing the main topic on the agenda of the European Council. In a debate with Commission President von der Leyen and the Slovenian Presidency, they insisted that vaccination remains the strongest and most promising weapon available against the pandemic. Additional efforts are…
MEPs of the European Conservatives and Reformists Group (ECR) have voted to extend the Co-Chairmanships of Prof Ryszard Legutko (Poland) and Raffaele Fitto (Italy). During an ECR Group meeting other positions were also voted on: Assita Kanko (Belgium), Peter Lundgren (Sweden), Robert Roos (the Netherlands), Beata Szydlo (Poland), Hermann Tertsch (Spain) and Roberts Zile (Latvia) have been elected…
The UK Foreign Secretary is to become lead negotiator with the EU on the Northern Ireland Protocol, following the departure of Lord Frost. Liz Truss will take over Ministerial responsibility for the UK’s relationship with the European Union with immediate effect. She will become the UK’s co-chair of the Partnership Council and the Joint Committee,…
