Karamanou (PSE).
– (EL) Mr President, I wanted to take advantage of your presence here
today to raise a question which, I think, will be of interest to the European
Parliament, given that it has passed resolutions on the subject.
As you know, this year's Miss World beauty
pageant is due to be held in Nigeria on 7 December. Quite apart from any
objections one might have to beauty pageants per se, I think it is unsuitable
for such a dazzling international event to be staged in a country which
condemns women to death by stoning, as in the recent case of Ámina
Lawal.
I think that we should raise our voice in
protest in order to encourage other states to follow the example set by
Belgium, France, Spain, Denmark, Switzerland and other countries, so that no
Member State of the European Union is represented at this disgraceful beauty
pageant in a country which has no respect for women's fundamental rights.