This Friday, the President of the European Parliament challenged communist deputy Paula Santos to speak in Kiev’s parliament before Ukrainian deputies, and asked Chega leader André Ventura to consider positions on migration.
“I decided to speak in the Ukrainian Parliament on April 1, 2022. I ask you (Member Paula Santos) to say what you said here in front of Ukrainian MPs. To speak to those MPs who have not spoken to women for weeks, whose children can’t go to school (…) This is not about sitting around the table and getting people to negotiate, this is about getting Russia out of Ukraine Metsola addresses the PCP delegate.
The communist parliamentary leader reiterated that “it is necessary to stop inciting and fueling the war in Ukraine and to open channels for negotiation”, and believed that “the EU that mobilizes and makes millions of euros available for armaments the same one who refuses to value wages and pensions”.
On the mostly economic consequences of the war in Ukraine, Metsola added that it is necessary to listen to young people affected by the housing crisis and businessmen affected by inflation.
Roberta Metsola took part this Friday in a debate in the Assembly of the Republic that she considered “very lively” by the deputies of the various Portuguese parties.
In a direct response to the Chega leader on cases of alleged corruption in the EU, Metsola said it is necessary to face and analyze the problem, but underlined that generalizations should be avoided.
“We have seen what has happened and we have seen what we can do better, but we must be a Parliament that is not cornered by those who want to destroy the European project because of alleged actions by some,” said Roberta Metsola.
Referring to André Ventura’s criticism of the EU’s migration policy, Metsola recalled that 2022 will be a decade since the biggest crisis in the Mediterranean, and urged the deputy to consider positions.
“I come from an island (Malta) which is at the heart of the problem. You know what we said ten years ago? We said ‘Never again’. We finally have, among member states, the means to move forward. You [André Ventura] you can say ‘never mind’, but what I ask you is to sit down at the table and vote for a pact that also looks at protecting borders, because there are countries that are under more pressure than others.” said Metsola.
“Remember this: for millions of people it is even safer to get on board and face death (…) We are talking about people,” said the President of the European Parliament in a speech to Ventura.
Born in Malta, Roberta Metsola thanked Portuguese MPs for mentioning Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, who was murdered in 2017.
“No journalist should be killed for doing his job, just because he was investigating the truth. I don’t want this to happen, neither in Europe nor in my country,” he said.
Roberta Metsola also expressed concern about climate issues and violence against women in Afghanistan and Iran.
“I’m not saying this because I’m a woman (…) but that’s what we’re seeing. Women are being killed and minorities are being persecuted,” Metsola said.
It is the first time that a president of a European institution takes part in a debate with parliamentary leaders in the plenary session of the Assembly of the Republic.
In the afternoon, Roberta Metsola participates in the Council of State, at the invitation of the President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa.
The meeting will discuss perspectives on the current European agenda, less than a year before the European Parliament elections.
Source: DN
