(TibetanReview.net, Jan23’20) – A new Tibet Interest Group (TIG) was formed in the European Parliament on Jan 22 following the recent parliament election and held its inaugural meeting with the participation of seven MEPs and nine Assistants of MEPs. They were joined by the heads of the International Campaign for Tibet’s Brussels team and the Office of Tibet in Brussels. The group promotes Tibet-related concerns in the European Parliament.
Long-term TIG member Molly Scott Cato welcomed the participants as the pro tem leader of the group. Her MEP term ends on Jan 31 and because of Brexit she won’t be coming back.
Following a presentation on the TIG’s activities over the recent years, with encouragement to the members to continue the work, Cato gave the floor to MEP Mikulas Peksa who was unanimously nominated as the group’s new president. He undertook to enlist more members to strengthen the TIG in the coming months.
He proposed trips by MEPs and their Assistants to Dharamsala, film shows, exhibition and regular meetings of TIG.
Peksa, a Greens/European Free Alliance MEP from the Czech Pirate Party, said support of policymakers worldwide for Tibet remained deeply needed. He suggested that in addition to the usual activities of the group (such as initiating resolutions or hearings on Tibet and organizing conferences), the TIG could also aim at raising more awareness and understanding of the Tibetan people and culture through events like exhibitions and film screenings.
The MEPs who attended the meeting were Petra De Sutter, Greens/EFA; Molly Scott-Cato, Greens/EFA; Mikulas Peksa, Greens/EFA; Isabel Santos, Socialist & Democrats (S&D); Heide Hannes, S&D; Ausra Maldekeine, European People’s Party (EPP); and Martin Horwood, Renew group.
The Office of Tibet hosted a farewell lunch to MEPs Scott-Cato and Horwood, two British MEPs who will be leaving European Parliament after this month due to Brexit.
(Sources: Tibet.net, savetibet.org, Jan 22, 23, 2020)