madam president right now as we stand here citizens in egypt are being trapped and attacked in tahrir square and the army and the police are reportedly attacking instead of protecting
in their peaceful protests egyptians of diverse backgrounds ask for respect for human rights and democracy political reform and good governance and socio-economic development
perhaps these demands sound familiar to you as they are precisely the goals of eu programmes in the middle east and in egypt specifically
the commission alone has spent a total of almost eur three billion on this in the past fifteen years
as the people's demands are already in line with our policy objectives why is it so difficult to make a strong eu statement quickly
the need for a strong proactive europe is more urgent than ever
as the sun of freedom and democracy rises over the middle east clouds of division are hampering european unity and the ability to take responsibility
i urge you to look at what is happening as we speak and to act in unequivocal support of the people
their rights and the eu's credibility are tied
another phenomenon consistently present in the relations between people and dictatorships is communication and information technologies
the tunisian government ranked among the most severe users of censorship surveillance and filter technologies to repress citizens
european companies such as vodafone and french telecom have had a strong presence in egypt and in killing the connections by flipping the switch and shutting egypt down
i would like to see an inquiry into the role that european companies played in the violations of human rights by hampering free expression a free press and access to information and creating an environment in which human rights violations could go undocumented
