30/09/2021 | 15:50:39 Thank you, Mister Chairman. We are very happy with the report by the European People's Party and happy with a chance to discuss this very serious situation created by an authoritarian regime that by instrumentalising a humanitarian concern it weaponises immigrants and asylum seekers to put pressure on neighbouring countries and all of Europe. I have five points. First: a state behaving like a criminal gang and a clandestine human trafficker on a massive scale – that is Belarus. Second: a... 30/09/2021 | 09:49:48 Thank you. I asked for the floor, Madam President, because I think it's important to talk about another aspect and learn the right lessons from the Afghan disaster here in Europe. We live in a new world of heightened tensions and geostrategic antagonisms. We in Europe have been too complacent for too long. If we were to continue on this path we are bound to face new surprises closer to home, I believe. We are often full of big words and I'm afraid our session this morning is no exception... 23/06/2021 | 13:01:25 (Undelivered speech, Rules of Procedure Art. 31.2) Dear colleagues, I asked for the floor first because the plane that was forcibly landed, recently, by the Byelorussian authorities took off from Athens. The Greek people were shocked and appalled by this act of state terrorism. Most importantly, I asked for the floor to underline the fact that in this issue we stand united, all of us, from all across Europe. The problem of Byelorussia is not a problem only of the neighbors of Byelorussia. It... 23/06/2021 | 12:27:21 Thank you, Mister President. I speak to you this morning humbled, shocked and appalled, as all my compatriots back home in Greece, by a hideous crime against a young woman, a wife and a mother of a young child who was recently murdered by her husband. Reminding us all of the continuous problem we are faced with. I took the floor to raise my voice against the pressures the Istanbul Convention faces today. Let me be clear, the demographic decline — especially in Eastern Europe—, should be no... 21/06/2021 | 19:03:25 Thank you, Madam Chair. I had the honour to preside over the debate as the vice-Chairman of the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights and try to fit in the very big shoes of my esteemed colleague Mr Boriss CILEVIČS who was the rapporteur. My job here is just to give you a subjective a flavour of what went on in the proceedings of the Committee. You already have got a very big flavour of that in the debate here. I have some very strong views about the matters that were hotly debated... 22/04/2021 | 12:25:27 Thank you, thank you, Mr Speaker. I will put my prepared speech aside because I prefer to respond to some of the things that my Turkish and Azeri colleagues have just said. Let me say out clear and loud that Osman Kavala is not a terrorist. That the millions of women of Turkey are not terrorists. They are seeking their rights according to the Istanbul Convention. And that the millions of Turkish citizens who voted for the second largest opposition party of Turkey are not terrorists. It is an... 22/04/2021 | 10:26:38 Good morning from Athens. Thank you very much, dear colleagues, dear friends. The case at hand is as simple as it is appalling. The fundamental question is a single and straightforward one. Should the rulings of the European Court of Human Rights, which constitutes the very core of our institution and our mission since the Council's founding in 1949, be respected and be implemented or will we allow ourselves to become irrelevant in the face of a member State that insists on ignoring the... 27/01/2021 | 19:15:41 Thank you, thank you. Good evening from Athens. It's my first day on the job and I'm particularly glad to give you the opinion of our Committee. Dear President, Dear Colleagues, On behalf of the Committee I fully support this report which deals with a very important matter for the respect of democracy, the rule of law and human rights. NGOs are a key component of a democratic civil society and make an essential contribution to the development and realisation of the core values of the Council... 26/01/2021 | 17:51:36 Hi, Mister Commissioner. Good evening from Athens. I hope you can hear me well. My question has to do with social media platforms. Recent events in the United States have highlighted the question and challenge posed by the dominant position and extraordinary role played by a number of social media platforms such as Twitter in our democracy. On the other hand, autocrats the world over would love to see these platforms restricted or done away with. So, I wondered and would like to hear your... 20/11/2020 | 12:21:55 Mr President, thank you very much. Hi from Athens. I have five points. First, I salute the fact that our Council of Europe and our Assembly in particular has continued its work, it's valuable work, in the midst of an enormous crisis. This is very important for what we discuss here in the Athens Declaration. Now we have the chance to recommit ourselves to the high ideals of our institution in the midst of an unprecedented crisis created by the pandemic. In this way we send the most powerful...