Hands off minority schools!

EFA MEP Miroslavs Mitrofanovs on minority education

'Hands off Russian minority schools in Latvia!' This was the slogan of a demonstration held outside the European Parliament building in Strasbourg on Wednesday 4 July, to highlight the threat to the system of minority education in Latvia. Demonstrators included schoolchildren and socia...

EFA MEPs criticize changes to European electoral law

Statement from EFA MEPs J-M Terricabras & Jordi Solé (Catalonia)

MEPs from the European Free Alliance (EFA) Group in the European Parliament, which represents Europe's stateless nations, regions and minorities, have expressed dissatisfaction with the outcome of today's vote to reform European electoral law. They are concerned that the changes run contr...

We need a Europe of solidarity and humanity

Press release from EFA MEP Jordi Solé

Commenting after the address to the European Parliament of Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki on the future of Europe, Catalan MEP Jordi Solé (Greens/EFA) was critical of the Polish PM's narrow vision of a Europe of nation states. Instead Solé called for a 'Europe of s...

HDP and democracy in Turkey

Statement from EFA MEP Jordi Solé (Catalonia)

EFA MEP Jordi Solé, a member of the European Parliament's Turkey delegation, has praised the performance of the pro-minority HDP party in Turkey's recent presidential and parliamentary elections. The party was able to increase its parliamentary representation, and field a candidate...

Open Arms – 'Saving Life is not a Crime' – MEP Ana Miranda

Press release from EFA MEP Ana Miranda (Galicia)

Greens/EFA MEP Ana Miranda, who is on board the ship Astral operated by NGO Open Arms, has called for action at EU level to prevent the criminalisation of NGOs engaged in search and rescue work in the Mediterranean. The ship which assisted in the rescue of 59 people from the Mediterranean sea ove...

Bridging the digital language divide

Press release from EFA MEP Jill Evans (Plaid Cymru)

Greens/EFA MEP Jill Evans (Plaid Cymru) hopes her new report 'Language Equality in the Digital Age' will make an important contribution to bridging the digital language divide. This could lead to Siri speaking Welsh, or Alexa speaking Lithuanian, whilst making it easier for sign language ...

Refugees in the Mediterranean – MEPs call for solidarity

Press release from EFA MEPs Jordi Solé & J-M Terricabras (Catalonia)

MEPs today held an emergency debate on humanitarian emergencies in the Mediterranean and the need for solidarity. This follows the Italian and Maltese governments' refusal to allow the refugee rescue ship MV Aquarius access to their ports in order to land the 629 people on board. Speaking ...

No double standards on EU's human rights commitment

Press release from EFA MEP Jordi Solé (Catalonia)

Catalan MEP Jordi Solé has called upon the EU to avoid double standards in its commitment to human rights and democracy around the world. The EFA MEP spoke in the European Parliament's debate today about the EU's annual report on human rights and democracy in the world, in the pres...

Altsasu case – concerns over fundamental rights and judicial independence in Spain

Statement from EFA MEPs Ana Miranda & Jordi Solé

MEPs from the EFA Group in the European Parliament have voiced concerns about the independence of the Spanish judiciary and fundamental rights in Spain. The MEPs criticised this week's 'disproportionate' sentencing of several youths from the small Basque town of Altsasu, who were invo...

Support for independent journalism is the best antidote

Fake News

Well-funded independent journalism with high professional standards is key to addressing disinformation and propaganda, says Josep Maria Terricabras, Vice President of the Greens/EFA group.