Verslag plenaire vergadering 18-19 februari 2009 (en)
At the opening of the plenary session in Brussels, EP President Hans-Gert Pöttering made four statements: 1) on the killing of Piotr Stanczak, a Polish engineer by terrorists in Pakistan, 2) on the tragic bushfires in southern Australia 3) on practioners of the Baha'i religion in Iran and 4) on the expulsion of Spanish MEP Luis Herrero from Venezuela.
Polish engineer killed in Pakistan
EP President Pöttering i conveyed, on behalf of the European Parliament, sent his "most sincere condolences and deepest sympathy" to the family and friends of Mr Piotr Stanczak, who was murdered two weeks ago after five months of being held hostage by terrorists in Pakistan. Mr Stanczak, a Polish engineer, was kidnapped in September 2008.
"I strongly condemn this barbaric act on an innocent Polish and European Union citizen. This is a crime that cannot be tolerated under any circumstances", said President Pöttering.
"Terrorism represents today one of the greatest dangers to security, stability and democratic values of the international community, for our way of life. Fighting terrorism must remain an essential and key political priority for the international community. It is a global problem and a challenge for everyone. We must use all the resources that the rule of law places at our disposal to defeat terrorism together once and for all," he added.
President Pöttering saluted Mr Stanczak in Polish and MEPs observed a minute of silence in tribute.
Bushfires in Australia
EP President Pöttering paid tribute to those who lost their lives "in an appalling manner" to the bushfires in Australia. "On behalf of the European Parliament, I would like to express solidarity with Australia, its people and its authorities at this time of sorrow," he said. Next week, a delegation of MEPs will visit Australia and will be "able to express our condolences in person," he added. Giles Chichester (EPP-ED, UK) Chairman of the EP-Australia New Zealand delegation shared the President's views and said that he looked forward to delivering them in person.
Members of the Baha'i faith in Iran
President Pöttering on behalf of the European Parliament denounced the detention of seven leaders of the Baha'i faith by Iranian authorities, which, according to alarming reports, "does not respect the requirements of the rule of law". Members of the Baha'i faith have been kept under detention for eight months, Nobel Peace laureate Shirin Ebadi, the lawyer who was to defend them, has received death threats. President Pöttering called on the Iranian authorities to again respect human rights and to release the prisoner without delay.
Expulsion of Spanish MEP Luis Herrero
To conclude, the President strongly protested and condemned the arrest and expulsion on Friday 13 February 2009 of Luis Herrero-Tejedor, member of the EPP-ED group, who had been officially invited to Venezuela by the opposition party.
Changes to the agenda
The report by Herbert REUL (EPP-ED, DE) on facing challenges in relation to oil supply report is postponed after a request from Mr Reul to send it back to the Industry and Energy Committee.
The Jonathan EVANS (EPP-ED, UK) report on competition Policy 2006 and 2007 is postponed to the next plenary session.
The final vote on the Claudio FAVA on sanctions on employers of illegal immigrants (PES, IT) report will take place on Thursday.
A request by Hannes SWOBODA (PSE, AT) to postpone the Thijs BERMAN (PES NL) report on financing of actions other than Official Development Assistance in countries falling under Regulation (EC) 1905/2006will be examined tomorrow (Thursday).