Verbatim report of proceedings

Wednesday, 6 July 2022 - Strasbourg

The relations of the Russian government and diplomatic network with parties of extremist, populist, anti-European and certain other European political parties in the context of the war (debate)

  Francesca Donato (NI). – Madam President, I am literally shocked by what I’ve heard here today. Are you really proposing to restrict the political activity of parties which democratically represent European citizens in their national dimension? Since when has the EU taken over, by totalitarian control, the political line of Member States’ national parties?

What we are discussing today is a dangerous and disturbing drift towards a deeply antidemocratic scenario with the false claim of protecting democracy. But doing this, we not only repress freedom of expression and freedom of opinion, but we deny the fundamental principle of democratic representation. If national governments don’t formally declare a state of war with Russia, there is no reason and no legal basis to forbid or restrict any political diplomatic relationship at the national level with Russian interlocutors.

The majority of Italian people do not support the ban to commercial, energetic and political relationship with Russia, and they definitely have the right to be represented in any field of political action. That’s it.