The European Parliament wants member states to immediately start negotiation talks with North Macedonia and Albania. Despite the fact that these two Western Balkan countries have fulfilled all the requested conditions a long time ago, the European Council has not been able to schedule the first Intergovernmental Conference (IGC). The Socialists and Democrats have always been…
After three days of a fact-finding mission in Albania, the European Parliament’s standing rapporteur for the country, Isabel Santos MEP underlined that the country has fulfilled all the criteria and has done everything that it was requested to do, to start accession negotiations with the European Union. Santos called on the member states to finally…
Following a three-day fact-finding mission to Beirut, the S&D delegation, led by Vice-President Pedro Marques, and composed of MEPs Isabel Santos, Tonino Picula, Evin Incir and Nora Mebarek, have announced that the Socialists and Democrats will request an urgent debate in the next plenary of the European Parliament in Strasbourg to discuss the dreadful situation…
On the first anniversary of the catastrophic port explosion in Beirut, the Socialists and Democrats call on Lebanese authorities to ensure victims’ quest for truth and justice. More than 217 people were killed, and over 7.000 injured, as 2.750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate exploded in Beirut’s port on 4 August 2020. Around 300.000 people were displaced, whereas the…
In the European Parliament, the Socialists and Democrats Group has strongly condemned the arrest of Alexei Navalny, one of Russia’s most influential dissidents and anti-corruption activists. Navalny was arrested on his return to Moscow after having spent five months in Germany recovering from a near-deadly poisoning last August. The S&D Group calls for a strong EU…
The following statement has been issued by Maria Arena, Chair of Parliament’s Subcommittee on Human Rights (DROI), Isabel Santos, Chair of the delegation for relations with the Mashreq countries and Mounir Satouri, Foreign Affairs Committee’s (AFET) standing rapporteur on Egypt;. “We condemn in the strongest terms the sentence of 15 years’ imprisonment issued on Monday…
Early parliamentary elections took place in North Macedonia on 15 July, in the challenging context of the COVID-19 pandemic. In a public statement Josep Borrell the EU’s High Representative for Foreign and Security Policy has commended North Macedonia’s citizens for exercising their right to vote. The EEAS reported that according to the preliminary findings and…
At a recent EU-UN conference on Syria in Brussels, the Socialists and Democrats urge EU member states for ambitious pledges for the impartial delivery of humanitarian aid to the Syrian people in need through UN agencies and civil society organisations. At the same time, the S&Ds reaffirm that the UN-led political process for Syria, with…
