Antonio TAJANI, EP President, opens the plenary session (12-15/11/18) of the European Parliament in Strasbourg. He speaks about Armistice centenary, victims of the floods in Europe / Climate change and Asia Bibi, released from Pakistanese jail

TAJANI, Antonio (EPP, IT)

Strasbourg

plenary session

EU - Pakistan (T)

respect for human rights in the world (T)

speech

natural disasters (T)

centenary of the First World War (T)

fight against climate change (T)

First World War commemoration (T)

Introductory remarks by Antonio TAJANI, EP President, on Armistice centenary, victims of the floods in Europe / Climate change and Asia Bibi, released from Pakistanese jail

SOUNDBITE (Italian), Antonio TAJANI, EP President, <p>20 years after unfortunately, nationalism of various sorts brought Europeans to battle amongst themselves. So today, 100 years after the first World War, we can see that the cooperation and the friendship upon which the Eu has been built has brought the possibility of a war to and end, but that is not irreversible. Here we have peace, prosperity and freedom,and this allows us to resolve our problems through political confrontation rather than on the battle field. And I sign up to this project and these ideals; Not just for those who will come after us, but also so that we can pay homage to all the millions of dead of the first world war, their sacrifice surely cannot be in vain. And finally with affection and with pride, I would like to salute all those countries that were born from that conflict that now celebrate a 100 years of their existence/ Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Poland and others.</p>

SOUNDBITE (Italian), Antonio TAJANI, EP President, I would also like to express our condolences to the families of the victims because of the very bad weather, in Lazio, Campana, Sicily, Liguria and other areas. We have had terrible weather, this has led to several deaths and absolute devastation in a number of areas. We in the EU are happy to help those people who have been hit and where there is a state of emergency.

SOUNDBITE (Italian), Antonio TAJANI, EP President, The fact a number of Member States have been hit by awful weather conditions and this really is sounding an alarm for all of us, it is obvious that climate change is causing all these extreme weather conditions and so we have to pool all of our resources to tackle this. The COP 24 that will be held in Katowice in Poland in December will allow us to once again show European leadership in the fight against greenhouse gases and emissions.

SOUNDBITE (Italian), Antonio TAJANI, EP President, I am also very pleased to tell you that the Supreme Court of Pakistan did recognised the innocence of Asia Bibi, this has meant that she can go back to the arms of her family after 8 years in prison. And we do hope that the case will be lifted and that this will be finally confirmed. I am in contact with the Pakistani authorities and we have offered our help to d everything we can to ensure the safety and freedom of Asia Bibi. Thank you.