MEP Solé calls on the EU for more engagement with Civil society in the Middle East

EFA Group President Jordi Solé intervened in the plenary session during the promoting regional stability and security in the broader Middle East region debate to highlight the situation in the broader Middle East

 

MEP Solé mentioned some developments in the region over the last decades and alerted on the direction some states are moving forward with the partial withdrawal of the US in the area or the raising of the Gulf states.

The Catalan MEP also wants to analyse other possible areas of collaboration and progress in the region, like clean energies, given the area's large capacity for renewable energies. 

 

To ensure progress and stop Human Rights violations, Jordi Solé MEP called on the European Union to engage with the local civil society and defend activists and journalists from abusive governments.

 

"The vast region covered by this report, the Broader Middle East, has undergone profound changes over the last decade."

"On the other hand, a successful authoritarian restoration across the region following the years of the Arab Uprisings from 2011 with severe negative implications for fundamental freedoms, political and human rights."

"We must condemn the severe and pervasive state repression of human rights defenders, activists, journalists and perceived critics throughout the region."

"We call on the EU to make engagement with civil society a priority and aim at concrete commitments at respective human rights dialogues."

"Finally, more engagement is needed from our side into the region’s forgotten conflicts, like the war in Yemen, or protracted ones like the Israel/Palestine conflict."