Arba KOKALARI (EPP, SE) and Łukasz KOHUT (S&D, PL), give a press conference in the European Parliament, on the EU ratification of Istanbul Convention on combating violence against women. The Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence is a major human rights treaty establishing comprehensive legal standards to ensure women’s right to be free from violence. Resulting from the Council of Europe’s continuous efforts since the 1990’s to prevent violence against women and domestic violence, this European legal instrument was negotiated by its 47 member states and adopted on 7 April 2011 by its Committee of Ministers. It is known as the Istanbul Convention after the city in which it opened for signature on 11 May 2011. The transcript is the result of an automated process. Please check against delivery.

Brussels

press conference

violence against women (T)

KOKALARI, Arba (EPP, SE)

KOHUT, Łukasz (S&D, PL)

women's rights (T)

Press conference by Arba KOKALARI (EPP, SE) and Łukasz KOHUT (S&D, PL), on the EU ratification of Istanbul Convention on combating violence against women

SOUNDBITE (English), Łukasz KOHUT (S&amp;D, PL), Thank you very much. Good afternoon. First of all, I would like to thank our Rebecca Scolari and her great team and for an amazing cooperation. We shoulder the European classical motto, Stronger Together is really working.

SOUNDBITE (English), Łukasz KOHUT (S&D, PL), I would like to thank also all the members of the European Parliament who voted for first for our report and then the final decisions during the last session in Strasbourg. When a member states expose its citizens to violence. The protection must be guaranteed by the European Union.

SOUNDBITE (English), Łukasz KOHUT (S&D, PL), Gender based violence is today's biggest unresolved daily problem in Europe. One in three women in the EU experienced physical and or sexual violence. Overall, around 62 million women.

SOUNDBITE (English), Łukasz KOHUT (S&D, PL), Violence affects every person and every family in Europe. Europeans have a right to expect that institutions and their representatives will do their best to ensure the proper protection against violence. The Istanbul Convention is recognised as the most effective tool for combating gender based violence due to imposing concrete obligations on the signatories.

SOUNDBITE (English), Łukasz KOHUT (S&D, PL), The convention is not about the ideology. The document is about providing an efficient protection for women. Therefore, as a co-rapporteurs, Arbour and me, we have put a strong pressure in order to finalise the process of the ratification. As soon as possible.

SOUNDBITE (English), Łukasz KOHUT (S&D, PL), Overall, majority in the European Parliament supported our report and the decisions which were working on. More than 460 MEPs have supported the accession to the Istanbul Convention. The Council should treat this result as a decisive signal coming directly from representatives of the European people.

SOUNDBITE (English), Łukasz KOHUT (S&D, PL), The youth anti-violence awaking is happening right before our eyes. What is significant? The signal from the European Parliament has already caused a positive pro-women declarations.

SOUNDBITE (English), Łukasz KOHUT (S&D, PL), Last week, Prime Minister Ingrida Simoite announced that she wanted ratification by Lithuania. In addition, President Petr Pavel sees no reason why the Czech Republic should not ratify the Istanbul Convention. I would like to wish the same courage to the conservative European governments, particularly to the Polish Prime Minister, who has been bragging that women's life is one of the highest priority for his government.

SOUNDBITE (English), Łukasz KOHUT (S&D, PL), Mr. Morawiecki, do not be a hypocrite. If you truly care about women, your representatives will vote for the Istanbul Convention. This is a mother of simply human sensitivity. The Russians are torturing, raping and killing women in Ukraine, and as a consequence, these inhuman and barbaric attacks cost women leaving their homes in Ukraine.

SOUNDBITE (English), Łukasz KOHUT (S&D, PL), The EU must protect every Ukrainian refugee, especially in the neighbouring countries such as Hungary and Slovakia, which have not ratified the Convention, and they must do it as soon as possible.

SOUNDBITE (English), Łukasz KOHUT (S&D, PL), Anti-Violence umbrella shall be opened at the EU wide level. It will allow the convention standards will be binding in particular areas such as judicial cooperation in criminal matters, asylum and public administration. In practice, we will ensure more sufficient criminal procedures, but also training for people who are working in the judicial system. The matter of time demand some extraordinary measures and determination.

SOUNDBITE (English), Łukasz KOHUT (S&D, PL), While Ukraine, during wartime was able to sign the convention, an authoritarian Turkey decided to withdraw. Right wing populists must ask themselves which directions they are going to follow. Thank you for joining us today and I'm looking forward for your questions. In the end, I would also like to thank the Swedish presidency for the support and all the efforts. Thank you very much.

SOUNDBITE (English), Arba KOKALARI (EPP, SE), Thank you very much. I also want to thank everybody here who are listening, both physical and remotely, on this press release. It was a historic vote that we had in the plenary session with a huge support for the Istanbul convention.

SOUNDBITE (English), Arba KOKALARI (EPP, SE), And I would say I would like to agree with my co-rapporteur, Łukasz Kohut, that we would not have made this historic step for the EU if we would not have not worked very closely together, both as the biggest political groups in the European Parliament.

SOUNDBITE (English), Arba KOKALARI (EPP, SE), That we we saw that we need to unite our common forces because the violence against women is a alarming issue in all Member states of the EU, where one third of women in Europe have been seeing physical or sexual violence.

SOUNDBITE (English), Arba KOKALARI (EPP, SE), But we also see that there are millions of women living afraid of the perpetrators and they are not enjoying the basic fundamental rights that they have the right to do in the European Union in 2023, where police forces are not having the enough competences to put perpetrators behind bars.

SOUNDBITE (English), Arba KOKALARI (EPP, SE), And we have countries who are not taking seriously these serious crimes, and that we have also member States who wants to attack women's right by saying that they either don't want the Istanbul convention to be part of their national law.

SOUNDBITE (English), Arba KOKALARI (EPP, SE), That would like we saw the threats by the Polish government, but also that we've seen that the Russian disinformation campaigns to attack European values has partly also been something that they have used the Istanbul Convention to end women's right.

SOUNDBITE (English), Arba KOKALARI (EPP, SE), So we need to stay strong together as the two political big political groups to say that we have zero tolerance against violence against women and that Europe goes from world to action. We talk about how serious this issues are, but Europe has not delivered until now.

SOUNDBITE (English), Arba KOKALARI (EPP, SE), And that's why this vote, the ratification vote, was so historic because now for the first time, the European Union, the European institutions will have very strong tools that we've never had before to take these crimes very seriously. And we've done it together and we've done it together with the Swedish presidency in the Council.

SOUNDBITE (English), Arba KOKALARI (EPP, SE), So our common cooperation made this happened and when we saw the voting, it was over for 472. Yes in the first vote against the 62 no votes. And then the other vote, we have 464 yes votes against 81 no votes. So it really shows a huge support for the Istanbul convention. And now our role is to see that this will be implemented it properly.

SOUNDBITE (English), Arba KOKALARI (EPP, SE), So all of those women who are living in fear, hiding from the perpetrators or those families to these victims can see that things are going on the right path finally, and that Europe delivers on women's right for real. And we're not talking about it, but we're actually doing something about it. So that's all. And I also look forward to answer the questions that you have. Thank you both very much.

Q&As Question on when the Council can ratify the Istanbul convention.

SOUNDBITE (English), Arba KOKALARI (EPP, SE), Well, the information that we have in foreign right now is that the council expect to ratify the convention about 1st of June or that week with the 1st of June. We don't know exactly. So you have to ask them, but that's the information that we had. So it's very close. What we know is that last time when they had the ratification vote, before we had our ratification vote was that it was a very good qualified majority that voted in favour of the ratification.

SOUNDBITE (English), Arba KOKALARI (EPP, SE), And there were some countries against. But we also could see some movement in current countries that haven't still ratified the convention that they are more open to discuss it. So we expect that the ratification also will be positive on the 1st of June week.

SOUNDBITE (English), Łukasz KOHUT (S&D, PL), Regarding the second question, I would like to answer that. You know, you can easily check the list of the votes in the European Parliament. You can check, you know, which countries these people are in, the governments. So we know we are talking also about the Law and Justice party from Poland, which is a signal also for the potential third win in the elections in Poland.

SOUNDBITE (English), Łukasz KOHUT (S&D, PL), Because then there will be a question about the withdrawal of the of the of the convention probably in Poland as we know already, because the prime minister asked the constitutional tribunal about about the legal aspects of of the European Convention in Poland. And regarding the first question, I am sure that Swedish presidency will work on.

Q&As Question on wether Hungary can join in ratifying the convention.

SOUNDBITE (English), Łukasz KOHUT (S&D, PL), As you as you mentioned already, there have been some signals from Lithuania and the Czech Republic. The decision is beginning and also some MEPs who took the floor talked about this, especially MEPs from the Czech Republic, said that it was high time for the convention to start applying in the Czech Republic.

SOUNDBITE (English), Łukasz KOHUT (S&D, PL), So there are positive signals, and I think that this political pressure from the European Parliament is maybe not appreciated in Poland, but it does work in Europe. So I hope also in Poland it will apply also in Poland as well. Maybe after the elections of course.

SOUNDBITE (English), Łukasz KOHUT (S&D, PL), In Hungary the situation is much more complicated, but I think that sooner or later also Hungary will accede to the convention.

SOUNDBITE (English), Arba KOKALARI (EPP, SE), Yes. If I can add on that, in our work, we have both tried to urge both that the EU itself need to ratify the Istanbul Convention, but also that the all member states, also the six remaining member states should ratify the Istanbul Convention in their national law.

SOUNDBITE (English), Arba KOKALARI (EPP, SE), What happens now is that the EU ratification will also put a very high pressure on those remaining Member States because the ratification is applicable to those areas where EU has competence, which also will be part of.

SOUNDBITE (English), Arba KOKALARI (EPP, SE), The EU is also part of is built up by the Member states. So the pressure will be now both from review so that the European Union in all of our EU competence, which includes legal competence, the police cooperation, anti-discrimination cooperation, gender equality issues, the EU institutions will indirectly also spill over to those Member States and the EU Commission, which now will implement the Istanbul Convention, will also monitor all Member states and also make sure that they collect data about the situation on gender based violence in all Member States.

SOUNDBITE (English), Arba KOKALARI (EPP, SE), So even if those countries have not yet ratified the Istanbul Convention, they will need to work with it partly because they're part of the European Union and the EU laws that where the Istanbul Convention will be applicable.

SOUNDBITE (English), Arba KOKALARI (EPP, SE), I think and I hope in the long term it will be even harder for them to resist because we cannot continue to have a European Union where violence against women is not taking seriously.

SOUNDBITE (English), Arba KOKALARI (EPP, SE), These are serious crimes. This is what it's all about. It's not any myths or something else. It's about maintaining the basic fundamental freedoms and the rights of all of our citizens so that they can, when they are abused or being killed or raped, that the police forces do their job in all member states.

SOUNDBITE (English), Łukasz KOHUT (S&D, PL), Regarding the second questions about the other countries and if it would be easy to to withdraw the convention now. Well, from my perspective is also good for the next perspective for the countries which are applying for being a member of the European Parliament, because there would be a huge political pressure also to do to ratify the convention for countries like North Macedonia or all the others from Balkan which are trying to be a member of the European Parliament. Ukraine showed the way.