Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-03-09-Speech-3-191"

Predicate	Value (sorted: default)
rdf:type	lpv_eu:Speech2
dcterms:Date	"2005-03-09"^^xsd:date2
dcterms:Is Part Of	lp_eu:Health workers detained in Libya2
dcterms:Language	"en"^^xsd:language2
lpv:document identification number	"en.20050309.16.3-191"2
lpv:hasSubsequent	lp_eu:2005-03-09-Speech-3-1922
lpv:speaker	lp:Geoffrey Van Orden2
lpv:spoken text	". Mr President, I should like to thank the President-in-Office of the Council and Commissioner Frattini for their very helpful statements. There is a double tragedy taking place in Libya at the moment. On the one hand there is the awful plight of hundreds of children in Benghazi infected by the HIV virus. We have the most enormous sympathy for them. I very much welcome the decision of the European Union's General Affairs and External Relations Council on 11 October 2004 to provide assistance to the Libyan health services. This includes medical equipment and help in establishing a reliable and safe blood bank. The other, quite separate tragedy is that since 1999 – for over five years now – Bulgarian medical workers have been imprisoned by the Libyan authorities on charges allegedly related to the HIV infection. This situation was dramatically worsened on 6 May last year when a Libyan court sentenced the Bulgarian nurses to death by firing squad. The most reputable international experts have testified that the problem of HIV infection was due to an in-hospital infection, which began over a year before the Bulgarians were hired by the Benghazi hospital. There are no good grounds for the imprisonment of the Bulgarian nurses. They should be released immediately. This is what the declaration of this Parliament, already signed by over 100 Members, is calling for. We ask the highest Libyan authorities to intervene in this matter, above all on grounds of natural justice and humanity. There is also a very practical reason why this should happen. Over the past year, important steps have been taken to improve the relationship between the European Union and Libya. This has come about because of a number of very sensible decisions taken by the Libyan authorities to dismantle the Libyan WMD programme and to compensate victims of terrorist attacks in which Libya had been implicated. The overall objective of EU engagement is Libya's full integration in the Barcelona process and subsequent progress towards an association agreement. This will not happen without further action on the part of Libya to meet our concerns. The most immediate of these concerns is the plight of the Bulgarian and Palestinian medical workers. We ask President Gaddafi to release them now."@en1
lpv:spokenAs	member; Delegation for relations with the NATO Parliamentary Assembly (2004-09-15--2007-03-13)3 substitute; Delegation for relations with the countries of South Asia and the South Asia Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) (2004-09-15--2007-03-13)3 vice-chair; AFET (2004-07-22--2007-01-14)3 substitute; Delegation for relations with the countries of south-east Europe (2004-09-28--2007-03-13)3 member; SEDE (2004-07-21--2007-01-14)3 member; Delegation to the EU-Turkey Joint Parliamentary Committee (2004-09-15--2009-07-13)3 substitute; TRAN (2004-07-22--2007-01-14)3 unknown; Conservative and Unionist Party (2004-07-20--2009-07-13)3
lpv:unclassifiedMetadata	"Van Orden,"1 "on behalf of the PPE-DE Group"1

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