At the initiative of the Subcommittee on Human Rights, the European Parliament holds a High-Level Conference on the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The Conference will bring together representatives from international and regional human rights organisations, members of national parliaments of EU member states, international and local civil society organisations, Nobel Peace Prize laureates, young voices from around the world as well as MEPs and chairs of Parliament’s committees to address human rights challenges. Opening speech by Roberta METSOLA, EP President. This transcription is a result of an automatic process. Please check against delivery.

Committee on Foreign Affairs

Brussels

conference

statement

Subcommittee on Human Rights

EU - United Nations (T)

Human rights (T2)

METSOLA, Roberta (EPP, MT, EP President)

75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights - High Level Conference: opening speech by Roberta METSOLA, EP President

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta Metsola, EP President, Thank you. Good morning, everyone. High Commissioner for Human Rights, Distinguished guests, Dear colleagues, Dear friends. It is truly a privilege to welcome you to the European Parliament as we celebrate today the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which is really a powerful symbol of our enduring commitment to the values and the principles that bind us together as a global community.

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta Metsola, EP President, As we reflect on these 75 years, let us not forget today how far we have come. The adoption of the Universal Declaration in 1948 truly marked a turning point in the history of humanity. For the first time ever, countries from all regions of the world united in the belief that any human being has rights simply by virtue of existing and agreed that the rights of every individual should be protected everywhere and always.

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta Metsola, EP President, Over decades, the Universal Declaration has inspired a large body of international treaties, regional conventions, and national legislations. The founders of the European Community where themselves guided by the conviction that a disregard for human dignity led to the most horrific of crimes on our continent. So it is fitting that the founding values of the European Union, inspired by the rights enshrined within the Universal Declaration, have found their place in Article 2 of the European Union Treaty.

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta Metsola, EP President, But beyond the European Union, hundreds of millions of people around the world equally enjoy the rights, freedoms, prosperity and justice. The Universal Declaration stands as a fundamental pillar of the international system. It is a crucial reference point in dialogues between citizens, nations, and states to organise an increasingly interdependent, but also an increasingly more uncertain, world. Armed conflicts, oppression, terrorism, poverty, inequality, exclusion, and discrimination are still a reality for too many people, including on the European continent.

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta Metsola, EP President, For 645 days, Ukrainians have been fighting an unjust, unprovoked and illegal invasion. Millions of innocent people have been forced to flee. Hundreds of thousands more have had to make the ultimate sacrifice in the name of liberty and freedom. Entire buildings, towns, communities have been destroyed. A week ago, we commemorated the International Day of the Rights of the Child. At a time, when so many thousands of Ukrainian children are still missing after having been forcibly removed by Russia from their homes.

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta Metsola, EP President, In the Middle East, the situation continues to be of such grave concern. The reality on the ground is horrific. It is tragic, and it is desperate. I've seen it with my own eyes. I've met with the families of those abducted by Hamas. I have met with people who lost relatives, some of them tens of relatives in Gaza, which is why it is important that we express our solidarity.

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta Metsola, EP President, We reiterate our rejection of terrorism, that we help to ensure all hostages taken are brought back home, and that we keep looking for solutions for more aid to reach those so desperately in need. It is the reason why the European Union has already quadrupled its humanitarian aid to €100 million. But it is also why we talk about the day after, about finding a sustainable, lasting peace based on a two state solution, that gives hope to Israeli and Palestinian families.

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta Metsola, EP President, Ladies and gentlemen, today we are faced with a new and more sophisticated means that allow for human rights violations. Digital technologies serve as great tools for freedom of expression. Yet they are being manipulated to become instruments for repression, disinformation and interference in democratic institutions.

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta Metsola, EP President, Now, as democratically elected representatives, we have a responsibility to act against injustice and to protect those who, through action, contribute to bringing the Universal Declaration to life every single day for everyone and everywhere. Let me take this opportunity to pay tribute to their work, to the work of many of you present here today. For the past 35 years, the European Parliament has awarded its Sakharov Prize for Freedom of thought to brave individuals and organisations who relentlessly protect and defend human rights.

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta Metsola, EP President, Several Sakharov laureates have also been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize and it is an honour to have several of them joining us this afternoon and allow me to express our solidarity and thoughts with those laureates who are deprived of liberty for their human rights engagement. Alexei Navalny, our laureate from the Democratic opposition in Belarus,Sergei Tikhanovsky, Maryia Kalesnikava, Mikola Statkevich and Ales Bialiatsky, but also Tohti, Ilham Sotoudeh Nasrin and Razan Zaitouneh.

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta Metsola, EP President, The European Parliament is committed to continue its work to shape EU policies and instruments in a way that keeps human and fundamental rights at their core. Too often we talk about rights and values as if they were lofty concepts that belong in theoretical, dusty library books, and we need to demonstrate every day why they are needed and how they can make a difference to people's lives.

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta Metsola, EP President, Ultimately, that means that that as much as it is an institutions responsibility to preserve, defend and promote human rights. And it is it is also the responsibility of every individual. By standing up to injustice, by raising our voices, and by taking action. Thank you.