Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I pay tribute to Mr. David-Maria Sassoli of the socialist and democratic group who was this morning elected President of the European Parliament. In recent days, we have seen a process of nomination of the leadership team for the European Union for the coming years. It obviously involves a lot of seeking of common ground between a variety of groups, geographies genders, political traditions and so on. I welcome the gender balance of the leadership team. However, I have been very disturbed about how the Taoiseach represented the Government and this country in recent days. He has openly sided with the current leaders of Hungary, Poland and Bulgaria, who have set themselves against liberal democracy. By siding with them, he has reinforced the view that those who stand up for liberal, progressive, European democratic values will be punished. The candidacy of Frans Timmermans for European Commission President was, we are told, and I would be interested in hearing the Taoiseach's view, derailed because he criticised European countries which have undermined the rule of law. Just this morning, we have seen the 200-year-old Hungarian Academy of Sciences, an all-sciences institute, come under the direct political control of a director appointed by Viktor Orbán. Does the Taoiseach believe it is acceptable to punish European leaders who defend European values and is that an acceptable message to give to the people of Europe at this time?

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