Category: Politicians
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“Europe has been unable to give its citizens a sense of belonging.” Interview to Niccolo’ Rinaldi MEP, ALDE
Niccolo’ Rinaldi is an Italian Member of the European Parliament (MEP), Vice President for ALDE group and member of the Committee on International Trade. Before becoming a politician, he built a strong experience in International Affairs, working first for the UN in Afghanistan, and then for almost twenty years at the European Parliament. UNITEE had…
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“For more equality, greater reforms in the European Union are necessary.”Interview with Raimon Obiols MEP
Raimon Obiols is a Spanish MEP for the Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament, and member of numerous committees, including the Committee of Foreign Affairs and the Subcommittee on Human Rights. Mr Obiols started his political career fighting against Franco’s dictatorship in Spain. After fifty years of political…
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“My dream is the United States of Europe.” An Interview with Gesine Meissner MEP
Before your mandate as a Member of the European Parliament, which started in 2009, you were involved in local politics, as a Member of the Lower Saxony Regional Assembly. What were your motivations for going into politics? Actually, I never thought about going into politics when I was younger. I was always interested in helping…
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“In times of crisis, it is tempting to seek a kind of original purity”. Interview with Hélène Flautre MEP
Societal issues have become more and more global. So how can being a Member of the European Parliament and dealing with international issues help you when running for a local office? Find out how Hélène FLAUTRE, MEP since 1999 and chief candidate of Europe-Ecologie-Les Verts (the French green party) for the city of Arras, answers…
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“One of the major tools in fighting the crisis is entrepreneurship.” Interview with Metin Kazak, Bulgarian MEP
What do you think will be important for the European citizens in the upcoming elections? The 2014 EU elections will be very important in the aftermath of the entry force of the Lisbon Treaty and the new powers that the EP received from this treaty. I think that what is essential for the European citizens…
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“Croatia Is Happy to Be Part of the European Family.” Interview with Tonino Picula, Croatian MEP
Tonino Picula is a Croatian MEP for the group of Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament. After working on the front line for Croatian accession to the EU, and as Croatian Foreign Minister from 2000 to 2003, he was the Vice President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly. Elected to the European Parliament this July,…
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“An Accession of Turkey to the EU Should Happen if They Are Ready. I Say Let Us Work Hard – It Will Take Time, But Let Us Take The Time”
Before becoming a Member of the European Parliament, Johannes Cornelis van Baalen was a member of the Dutch national Parliament. He was eventually asked to lead the list for the European Parliament, and he accepted due to his international and European mind-set. “We have a Europe that works for the member states, it is not…
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“New European entrepreneurs are the best of the best.” Interview with Lambert van Nistelrooij, Dutch MEP
The Dutch Member of the European Parliament, Lambert van Nistelrooij, has been involved in politics since his early 20’s. Early on, he was fascinated by regional co-operation in his local border region, in the south of the Netherlands, close to Germany and Belgium. It eventually developed into an interest for European politics. He is currently…
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“If Every SME Could Create Just One New Job, the Unemployment Problem Would be Solved.” Interview with Jürgen Creutzmann, German MEP
Can you tell me why you decided to go into politics? And why you decided to go into European politics later in life? This is easy to explain. I was always interested in politics, even as a young man, so I became active in the youth organisation of the German liberals, the FDP. From 1998,…
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“There are Important Distinctions, Differences, Between Turkey and Europe, Which Have to be Managed.” Andrew Duff, British MEP
You are the first vice-president of the Joint Parliamentary delegation to Turkey. What do you think of the current state of EU-Turkey relations? Do you think that the “democratic reforms” recently proposed by Erdogan’s government will change some of the negative European perspectives towards Ankara and re-spark the relationship? Up to a point yes. But…