– Before the vote:

  Helmut Scholz, on behalf of the GUE/NGL Group. – Mr. President, as we are all witnesses of the terrorist attacks on the metro in St Petersburg, I would suggest that today we do not vote on the resolution but, as a symbolic act, hold the vote in the next plenary part-session. I think that, in this very worrying situation for the citizens of the Russian Federation, we should link it to the protest in Moscow and other cities over the last few weeks.

  Michael Gahler, im Namen der PPE-Fraktion. – Herr Präsident! Die EVP—Fraktion ist dagegen. Die beiden Tatbestände haben nichts miteinander zu tun, und deswegen gibt es auch überhaupt keinen Anlass, die Abstimmung zu vertagen.

(The request was rejected)

– After the vote on Amendment 4:

  Ulrike Lunacek, on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group. – Mr President, I will ask – and I have announced this to the services beforehand –for withdrawal of this amendment now, for two reasons. One is that this morning, at the beginning of the session, President Tajani made a very good announcement that he condemned the atrocities against gay men in Chechnya, which happened just recently. The other reason is that, in agreement with some of the other Groups, I decided to ask for withdrawal, but we are also planning to table an oral question on these atrocities against gay men in the next plenary.