← Votes·2026-07-09

The abduction, forced conversion and child marriage of Maria Shahbaz and the protection of girls in Pakistan

Foreign Affairs75%★

Confidence: 75%

Assigned by: rule-based classifier

Evidence:

title contains non-EU country "pakistan"

Reviewed: yes

Methodology: topic-rules-v0.1

View all votes on Foreign Affairs →

Vote ID 195770Source: official EP roll-call records

Official roll-call results (EP minutes) ↗

/ 100

Importance Score

Medium importance

Why this vote stands out:

✓Some political group division
✓Some national delegation divergence
✓Close result
✓High participation
✓Many MEPs voted against their group

Show full breakdown

Topic importance+0 / 15

Turnout+5 / 5

Vote type+0 / 25

Close vote+10 / 15

Legislative+0 / 15

Rebel votes+7 / 10

Group division+10 / 15

Country division+8 / 15

Methodology: importance-v0.1 · The Importance Score is a prioritisation indicator. It does not judge whether a vote is good or bad.

What was this vote about?

This vote concerned “The abduction, forced conversion and child marriage of Maria Shahbaz and the protection of girls in Pakistan”. EPP, ECR, PfE, ESN and NI voted mostly in favour, while S&D, Renew, Greens-EFA and Left voted mostly against. The motion was adopted by a narrow margin (301 for, 281 against, 14 abstentions).

Automated summary generated from official vote metadata and observed voting patterns. Not a legal interpretation.

Why it matters

This is a substantive vote (such as an amendment or resolution) that contributes to shaping the final position of the Parliament on a dossier. It reflects the political direction taken on specific provisions. The outcome was close, which makes individual choices and absences especially consequential.

Result analysis

For

301

Against

281

Abstain

Margin of victory

20 votes

Turnout (cast)

596

Absent

Participation rate

96.4%

⚠️This was a close vote — the margin was small relative to the votes cast.

Close vote analysis

The margin was 20 votes. 22 MEPs did not vote.

Could absences have changed the outcome? The number of absent MEPs (22) was larger than the 20-vote margin, so absences were numerically significant.

Absences larger than the margin are numerically significant but do NOT imply the outcome would have changed. That would require modelling how each absent member would have voted, which this analysis does not do.

By political group

EPP167 MEPs

For 131Against 17Abstain 10Absent 9

S&D111 MEPs

For 0Against 110Abstain 0Absent 1

Renew69 MEPs

For 0Against 68Abstain 0Absent 1

ECR67 MEPs

For 66Against 0Abstain 0Absent 1

PfE69 MEPs

For 62Against 0Abstain 0Absent 7

Greens/EFA48 MEPs

For 0Against 48Abstain 0Absent 0

The Left36 MEPs

For 0Against 36Abstain 0Absent 0

ESN25 MEPs

For 24Against 0Abstain 0Absent 1

NI25 MEPs

For 18Against 1Abstain 4Absent 2

Country angle

Most in favour

Poland45
France35
Italy30
Czech Republic15
Romania14

Most against

Germany54
Spain28
Netherlands16
Sweden13
Denmark11

Divided delegations

Austria
Bulgaria
Croatia
France
Italy
Lithuania
Malta
Netherlands

Full breakdown by all countries

Austria19 MEPs

For 11Against 8Abstain 0Absent 0

Belgium18 MEPs

For 5Against 10Abstain 3Absent 0

Bulgaria14 MEPs

For 6Against 5Abstain 1Absent 2

Croatia10 MEPs

For 5Against 5Abstain 0Absent 0

Cyprus3 MEPs

For 3Against 0Abstain 0Absent 0

Czech Republic17 MEPs

For 15Against 2Abstain 0Absent 0

Denmark15 MEPs

For 4Against 11Abstain 0Absent 0

Estonia6 MEPs

For 2Against 4Abstain 0Absent 0

Finland14 MEPs

For 2Against 11Abstain 0Absent 1

France69 MEPs

For 35Against 32Abstain 0Absent 2

Germany90 MEPs

For 29Against 54Abstain 3Absent 4

Greece15 MEPs

For 10Against 2Abstain 1Absent 2

Hungary15 MEPs

For 7Against 1Abstain 0Absent 7

Ireland12 MEPs

For 4Against 8Abstain 0Absent 0

Italy54 MEPs

For 30Against 24Abstain 0Absent 0

Latvia9 MEPs

For 6Against 3Abstain 0Absent 0

Lithuania11 MEPs

For 5Against 5Abstain 0Absent 1

Luxembourg5 MEPs

For 1Against 4Abstain 0Absent 0

Malta5 MEPs

For 2Against 3Abstain 0Absent 0

Netherlands28 MEPs

For 12Against 16Abstain 0Absent 0

Poland48 MEPs

For 45Against 3Abstain 0Absent 0

Portugal19 MEPs

For 3Against 11Abstain 4Absent 1

Romania27 MEPs

For 14Against 10Abstain 1Absent 2

Slovakia12 MEPs

For 7Against 4Abstain 1Absent 0

Slovenia9 MEPs

For 5Against 4Abstain 0Absent 0

Spain53 MEPs

For 25Against 28Abstain 0Absent 0

Sweden21 MEPs

For 8Against 13Abstain 0Absent 0

Individual MEP positions

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