At an extraordinary meeting of the European Parliament’s Human Rights Subcommittee, MEP Tomasz Froelich of the Alternative for Germany party criticized the current diplomatic approach of the European Parliament, calling it “wrong” for excluding dialogue with opposing viewpoints.

“I find this exchange with representatives of NGOs and representatives of civil society fundamentally very important. That’s why I’m also glad that you are all here today and I may listen to your remarks for a bit. I believe that maintaining an exchange with the opposing side is also part of a complete opinion-forming process. Therefore I consider this approach that the EU Parliament has chosen here to be wrong because diplomacy also involves exchange with those who think differently,” he said.

Froelich also inquired about the impact of USAID’s withdrawal on the work of NGOs and civil society organizations.