GUE/NGL MEP Takis Hadjigeorgiou said he admired the courage of Commission President Barroso in his State of the Union speech in the European Parliament this morning, because of his faith that all's well in the European Union.

 

“He must live in another EU, not the one I live in. 100 metres from the European Parliament in Brussels you see people begging while here in Strasbourg, homeless people are sleeping in the streets,” he said.

 

He stressed that all the austerity policies and measures being promoted by the EU as a solution to the crisis “are not only aggravating the problems the economy is facing but are also leading to a deepening of the crisis. They result in increased poverty and unemployment, more cuts and privatisations.”

 

The people of Europe can no longer afford the crisis, and not only southern Europeans, but “all those people losing their jobs in Germany, France and Slovenia. In Cyprus, the decisions taken by the Troika have destroyed the economy.”

 

On the issue of Syria, MEP Hadjigeorgiou said the group condemned any external intervention in the internal affairs of that country. “War is not a solution. It never was and never will be.”

 

“We want a political negotiated solution in Syria,” he said, adding that dialogue with Russia was essential while the Russian proposal on chemical weapons “could potentially be a solution.” However he said, “It's high time to be serious about disarmament. This is the cornerstone for achieving global peace.”

 

As for GUE/NGL President Gabi Zimmer, she called “for consistent implementation of the Chemical Weapons Convention, including the destruction of all existing chemical weapons worldwide.”

 

“The criminal use of poisonous gas in Syria makes it clear that the implementation of existing disarmament agreements and further disarmament steps must be a top priority again. The EU must step up its efforts on this quickly.”