Press room 

Foreign Affairs MEPs call for a dedicated budget and more tools to strengthen foreign and defence policies and make the EU a credible and strong global player.

The respect of human rights and the rule of law in Turkey in the aftermath of the failed coup attempt will be a crucial test for the state of the country’s democracy, said Foreign Affairs Committee MEPs on Tuesday. They assessed the results of last week’s fact-finding mission to Turkey by the committee chair and rapporteur and stressed the need for constant monitoring.

Speakers from the Western Balkans parliaments will gather at the European Parliament, under President Sassoli's patronage, to discuss European prospects for their region.

All of the EP’s 20 standing committees and two subcommittees held their constitutive meetings on Wednesday to elect their chair and vice-chairs.

MEPs acknowledged Lebanon's struggle with the enormous migration flows and voiced their concerns about the internal crisis there and growing extremism across the region, in a Foreign Affairs Committee debate with its Prime Minister Tammam Saeb Salam on Tuesday afternoon.

Propaganda pressure on the EU from Russia and Islamic terrorist organisations is growing, say Foreign Affairs Committee MEPs in a resolution voted on Monday. It seeks to distort the truth, incite fear, provoke doubt and divide the EU. However, this pressure should be countered, not with more propaganda, but with positive messaging, awareness raising and education to increase the information literacy amongst EU citizens, MEPs add.

The Foreign Affairs Committee questioned Josep Borrell, Spanish candidate for High Representative/Vice-President for foreign affairs and security policy.

The European Parliament should give its consent to the EU Association Agreement with Ukraine, recommended the Foreign Affairs Committee in a vote on Monday afternoon. The deal would establish a deep political association between the EU and Ukraine and provide for mutual free market access, by dismantling import duties and banning export duties and restrictions.

The Foreign Affairs Committee MEPs called in a debate on Monday on the EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini to present EU foreign ministers on Thursday with concrete proposals for further restrictive actions towards Russia, following the escalation of violence in the Donbas region and the shelling of the Ukrainian city of Mariupol. Time is now for action, many MEPs underlined and suggested furthering of sanctions namely in financial or banking sectors.

The November 2017 Eastern Partnership Summit should pave the way to set up a trust fund for Eastern partners and reward reforms by offering them customs union, MEPs said on Tuesday.

An informal agreement on an EU scheme aiming to mobilise €44 billion in private sector investment in Africa and EU neighbourhood was reached with EU ministers on Wednesday.

Sharing common values, interests, and political agenda, Latin American and Caribbean countries and the EU should build stronger partnerships, MEPs say.

Turkey’s EU accession talks should be suspended if the proposed changes to the constitution go ahead, committee MEPs recommended on Tuesday.

An EU scheme to mobilise €44 billion in private sector investment in Africa and the EU’s neighbourhood should focus on the poor, said committee MEPs on Monday.

Ministers are outlining the priorities of the Croatian Presidency of the Council of the EU to parliamentary committees, in a series of meetings.

EU-Turkey cooperation on migration should be uncoupled from the EU accession negotiating process, say Foreign Affairs Committee MEPs in a repor voted on Tuesday. MEP praise Turkey for hosting the largest refugee population in the world, and note that it remains a "key strategic partner for the EU" but nonetheless call for progress on rule of law and fundamental values and "a more structured and frequent political dialogue on key thematic issues".

Belarusian political prisoners Ales Bialatski, Eduard Lobau and Mykola Statkevich, US spying whistleblower Edward Snowden and Pakistani campaigner for girls' education Malala Yousafzai are the shortlisted finalists for this year's Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought. The laureate will be announced on 10 October, and the €50,000 prize will be awarded in Strasbourg on 20 November.

Seven nominees for the European Parliament’s 2014 Sakharov Prize for freedom of thought, chosen by political groups and groups of MEPs, will be presented at a meeting of the Foreign Affairs and Development committees and the Human Rights Subcommittee on 23 September, at 16:15.

Ukrainian movement EuroMaidan, Congolese gynaecologist Denis Mukwege and Azerbaijani human rights activist Leyla Yunus are the three finalists for this year's European Parliament Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, as voted jointly on Tuesday by the Foreign Affairs and Development committees.

EU and NATO coordination has started to tackle the refugee crisis and will be further deepened, EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told MEPs and national MPs in the Foreign Affairs Committee on Tuesday.