Ukraine

The president of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, opened the second November part-session by stating that Parliament “has stood with the people of Ukraine since day one and we stand with them still today.” While grateful that there has been a new push for peace, she said that “this must be a real peace: with justice, and with freedom … based on the principle of nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine.”

Amine Kessaci

The president then paid homage to Amine Kessaci, “a remarkable and courageous young man who risks his life to fight against organised drug crime in France”. Earlier this month, his younger brother Mehdi was shot dead in his home town by drug criminals seeking to intimidate Amine. This was the second of Amine’s brothers to have been killed in this way. However, despite these unspeakable tragedies, Amine continues to speak out, as “silence provides a hiding place for our enemies”. As the house of European democracy, the president said,…