01/10/2024 | 10:35:22 Thank you, Mister President. Dear colleagues, I would like to congratulate Mr Stefan SCHENNACH for this very good and important report. We all agree in this chamber that propaganda is used to manipulate public opinion, and it threatens our common values and especially our democratic traditions. So, following the despicable Russian invasion against Ukraine, certain political centres and governments have employed unethical methods of communication by spreading disinformation and fake news in an... 25/06/2024 | 11:51:57 I would like, first of all, to thank Mr George PAPANDREOU for his invaluable work, also Ms Yevheniia KRAVCHUK and Ms Marharyta VORYKHAVA for their contribution. Moreover, I'd like to thank the Committee on Political Affairs and Democracy, our Chairperson and all my colleagues for their important contributions. Of course, I am grateful to Ms Sonia SIRTORI, Mr Cesare COLOMBO, and Mr Anastasios CHATZIVASILEIOU. Dear colleagues, You know that less than 3% of parliamentarians globally are coming... 25/06/2024 | 10:13:26 Thank you, Mister President. Dear colleagues, I would like to thank Mr George PAPANDREOU for his invaluable contribution. You know that young people represent the future, and their active participation and involvement in the political life is the minimum precondition for building stable societies and strong democracies in today's era. Looking at the multidimensional, interrelated challenges that lie ahead of us, dear colleagues, this is becoming more and more evident. Look at the dramatic... 23/01/2024 | 20:17:16 (Undelivered speech, Rules of Procedure Art. 31.2) Dear colleagues, The Parliamentary Assembly should by all means condemn the terrorist attack by Hamas against civilians in Israel. At the same time, we have to express our support for Israel’s right to self-defense and remind of the necessity for an independent Palestinian state, within the borders of 1967. In his excellent report, Mr. Fassino describes our common concern regarding: First, the immediate release of all the hostages arrested by... 22/01/2024 | 15:46:29 Thank you, Mister President. Congratulations on your election. I declare myself as a proud Greek deputy and I am sure that your mandate will be marked with achievements and lasting positive impact. So, dear colleagues, according to the remarks and the conclusions of the national election observation mission where Assembly members participated, there is a consensus in this room that the December elections in Serbia, though pluralistic and technically well-administered, were marked by... 12/10/2022 | 12:02:04 Thank you, Mister President. [speaks in Turkish] Dear colleagues, I will speak as an old and true friend of Türkiye. Five years after our assembly decided to put it under monitoring procedure, the country still faces serious problems, and I feel really sad about this. Today's Government, after initially passing some liberalising reforms, has showed contempt for political rights and civil liberties and has pursued a crackdown on its opponents. The 2017 constitutional changes have removed key... 11/10/2022 | 10:28:11 Madam Chair, Dear colleagues, I would like to thank and congratulate Mr George PAPANDREOU for his excellent report which we approve here today. By all means, the future of the Western Balkans is inside the European Union for the sake of regional stability. Our Council should play a pivotal role in order to give a new impetus to the EU enlargement process. At the same time, we have to urge all the Western Balkan states to accelerate the necessary reforms. As a Greek, I am proud of the... 21/06/2022 | 12:42:12 Thank you Mr President. Dear colleagues, We welcome Ms Sviatlana TSIKHANOUSKAYA who always sends a very strong message from Strasbourg in every case. So after the despicable Russian invasion we should send a strong message that revisionism should not be tolerated and we have to work on our democratic security. So to my opinion: we need a definition for real and imitation democracies. We need a distinction between democracy and autocracy and it's high time to do that right now. So I believe... 23/06/2021 | 13:08:15 (Undelivered speech, Rules of Procedure Art. 31.2) Dear colleagues, We are very proud of the Istanbul Convention. It is the world’s leading women’s rights treaty. There can be no real equality between men and women, if women experience violence and states turn a blind eye. The harmonization of legal standards can ensure the same level of protection everywhere. Unfortunately, the Istanbul Convention is increasingly politicized. Some say it goes against traditional family values. Some others... 22/04/2021 | 12:35:27 Thank you, Madam President. Dear colleagues, A democratic functioning of political institutions demands respect of checks and balances and the freedom of expression. And both are in e critical point currently in Turkey. This is the reality, as the report manifests. And I'm very disappointed to listen to other colleagues denying this very reality today. The constitutional revision of 2017 resulted as foreseen in a profound change of the balance of powers. It drastically reduced the role of the...