Leonidas Donskis, on behalf of the ALDE Group. – Mr[nbsp ]President, Minister, today we are not only debating a technical resolution on the EU priorities for the 25th[nbsp ]session of the United Nations Human Rights Council, we are also expressing our views regarding current events in the various corners of the world, reflecting on the past and creating a future vision, and trying to strategise and shape the very core of our Union’s efforts and values: the promotion of human rights in the world.

The UN Human Rights Council should be the prime forum for effective high-quality discussion and for decisions based on full and morally uncompromised dedication to the protection of human rights. I, like colleagues from my political group, am concerned about the human rights abuses in a number of newly-elected member countries of the UN Human Rights Council, including Algeria, China, Cuba, Morocco, Russia, Saudi Arabia and Vietnam, and we call on these countries to do their utmost to improve their human-rights situation at home. We have submitted an amendment to that end and would urge all other political groups to support it.

In Russia the human-rights situation has become virtually as dire as it was at the time of the Soviet Union. Developments such as the Foreign Agent Law, the repression of freedom of expression, association and assembly, and the anti-LGBTI laws are all huge steps backwards, in contrast to the positive efforts which Russia made during the first post-Soviet years.

On another note, I was pleased to see that a reference to caste-based discrimination was included in the resolution. Let Parliament keep talking about it, let the EU keep talking about it and, most importantly, let us finally do something to resolve this human-rights abuse which is so serious and so widespread yet so sadly and unacceptably neglected by the international community.

Lastly, let us not forget Tibet. Tibet is not one of the EU priorities for this session of the UN Human Rights Council, but it should be. The precarious situation of the Tibetan people is an absolutely vital question which should be at the forefront of EU human rights policies. I urge the EU to ensure that realpolitik and relations with the big strategic partners do not lead to the fate of a whole nation being swallowed up and forgotten.