Speeches

Madam President, as you’ve already mentioned, on Wednesday night a 19—year—old extremist shot two people in front of a gay bar in downtown Bratislava and injured another. The attacker did not know their names. He didn’t know the victims personally. All he knew was that they were members of the LGBTIQ community. That is the sole reason why they had to die. The Slovak police are now investigating the case as an act of terrorism. To my knowledge, this would be the first terrorist attack against or targeting LGBTQ minority in the European Union. What is also important to note is that this act took place against the backdrop or against the culture of hatred, intimidation and intolerance against the LGBTQ minority not just in Slovakia, but in a number of Member States as well. That is why I would like, with your permission and with your support, colleagues, to move this debate and a resolution on growing hate crimes against LGBTIQ people across Europe in light of the recent homophobic murder in Slovakia. I think Parliament now needs to send a strong signal of solidarity, but also of standing for human rights and of making clear that, in the European Union, nobody should feel threatened or nobody should have fewer rights just because of their different sexual orientation.

The next sitting will take place tomorrow, Thursday 6 October 2022 at 09.00. The agenda has been published and is available on the European Parliament’s website.

The next item is the oral question to the Commission The Dutch childcare allowance, institutional racism and algorithms scandal (O-000028/2022 - B9-0025/22).

The next item is the debate on six motions for a resolution on the recent humanitarian and human rights situation in Tigray, Ethiopia, in particular the situation of children (2022/2858(RSP)).

The EPP group has notified the President of a decision relating to changes to appointments within a committee. This decision will be set out in the minutes of today’s sitting and shall take effect on the date of this announcement.

I would inform you that Dace Melbārde is no longer sitting with the non-attached Members. She joins the PPE Group as of today, 5 October 2022.

I have received five motions for resolutions to wind up the debate. This concludes the debate. The vote on the resolution will take place tomorrow. Written declarations (Rule 171)

Mr President, Vladimir Putin is losing his aggressive and brutal war. And the attacked Ukraine, along with Europe, which supports it militarily and financially, wins. And so we must not be mistaken or intimidated by Putin's threats, the use of nuclear weapons, or the mobilization in which more Russians have fled than have entered. Even with the illegal annexation of territories over which Russia is gradually losing control. This is Putin's only tactic. The only weapon is to spread fear, blackmail everyone, massacre civilians, burn territories, manipulate energy prices and threaten critical infrastructure in the European Union. In fact, he's weak. If Ukraine and Europe are to win this war by its side, we must continue to maintain a united position of the European Union. We must tighten sanctions against Putin's regime and continue to supply heavy military equipment for Ukraine's victory. For this victory will also be the victory of a free and democratic Europe.

Madam President, Mr Commissioner, dear colleagues, this House made it quite clear last month Hungary is no longer a full—fledged democracy. The Council and the Commission should now acknowledge this quite obvious reality, especially when discussing the protection of billions of EU taxpayers’ money. I have no doubt that the Commission triggered the conditionality mechanism involving up to a third of funds allocated to Hungary. When it did so, it found evidence of a systemic problem, which is exactly why it is hard to believe that suddenly, in a matter of months, the Orbán government would come up with a credible pledge to investigate all the stolen funds, that it would suddenly undo years of building up and sustaining a kleptocratic regime. Because corruption and misuse of EU funds is, unfortunately, an integral part of governing now in Hungary; it is a feature, not a bug. Therefore, if the Commission is serious about protecting our taxpayers’ money, the requirements must be considerably more robust. Namely, Hungary must and should join the European Public Prosecutor. And, crucially, the conditionality procedure should continue until we see tangible change, tangible results in Hungary itself. In other words, until the country returns to the path of rule of law and democracy.

The next item is the thematic debate (Rule 162 of the Rules of Procedure) on the illegal detention of an opposition leader in Bulgaria (2022/2832(RSP)). The catch-the-eye procedure will not apply to this debate and no blue cards will be accepted. Mr Manfred Weber will be the first to speak.

Before we move on to the next point. There's an announcement. The ECR Group informed the President of Parliament of its decision regarding the change in delegation appointments. This decision will be recorded in the minutes of today's sitting and will enter into force on the day of this notification.

Mr President, Mr Commissioner, if there's one takeaway from this annual report, it is that our Member States are violating core values of respect to the core fundamental rights and freedoms. And the European Union cannot do much about it. The COVID pandemic in 2020 and 2021 made it fairly obvious. The volume of human-rights violations described in this report proves that little is being done or can be done at this present time, beyond words and declarations. For far too long, we have turned a blind eye on fundamental-rights violations, unequal treatment, structural racism, or hate against minorities, LGBTIQ people and others. In a number of Member States, this discrimination has become systematic. My colleague spoke of the Roma minorities in Slovakia, but it goes beyond that, and now is the time for the EU to make clear where it actually stands. Do we choose the path of fewer and fewer freedoms and give in to illiberal tendencies? Or do we eventually choose a coordinated pushback to reclaim our values? And this is not about or just about Hungary or Poland, although our response in these cases shapes then what is deemed acceptable by other Member States. And so far, as this report makes clear, Europe's response has been feeble. But I am comforted also by the experience of drafting this report where the groups came together to paint a sobering picture, but at least making clear what Europe values are and where we still have work to do. So thanks to all the shadow rapporteurs and the rapporteur.

Well, my dear colleague unfortunately, corruption in a systematically major scale is what the Hungarian Government is perpetrating with all of our money, all of European Union’s money. And it’s not me saying it’s OLAF saying it. It’s the actual European Commission mechanism for conditionality is precisely a response to systematic corruption with European Union funds that is taking place in Hungary. That is why I said it’s a kleptocratic regime, because it’s not just one, it is not one case of corruption, it’s a system that is built like that. This is precisely why we need the conditionality. And it’s precisely why Hungary is not part of the European Public Prosecutor, it’s a way the government functions, I’m sorry.

Mr President, Mr Commissioner, I’m afraid that four years after triggering Article 7, one thing has become clear, and that is that Mr Orbán has chosen kleptocracy over democracy, Putin over Europe and corruption over the rule of law. Now all of us have to live with the consequences of the weakness of the Council for years, which has allowed Mr Orbán to undermine our founding values. Now we are in a situation where Hungary unfortunately backs Russia in a systemic way, vetoing all sanctions, opposing sanctions against Russian oligarchs and undermining the EU’s efforts to move away from Russian gas. As we face one of the greatest crises in our continent, there is no more any excuse for carrying out with the ostrich politics of the past. Otherwise, we, all of us, will pay a very high price, not just in terms of our unity and our values, but in terms of our security and literally our energy bills. (The speaker agreed to respond to a blue-card speech)

Madam President, Commissioner, I am afraid that all the crises and problems we have experienced in recent years can be nothing compared to what the energy crisis can cause. Because it will not only affect selected sectors or only vulnerable groups, it will affect everyone and it will affect everything. If we do nothing, in some countries household energy bills can reach completely absurd drastic figures, a few percent of GDP. It really can't be managed. And if we do nothing, the economy will collapse, schools will close, industry will freeze. And against the backdrop of all this, oil and gas companies are making historic profits. Therefore, the next days, the next weeks, will be breaking. As during the pandemic, people rightly expect a European solution, price caps, compensation to households, help to firms, but also a tax on excessive profits. And it's really simple. Either we agree quickly, or the Europeans are perfectly right to conclude that when it comes to hard work, the European Union cannot be relied upon.

Madam President, Commissioner, we can no longer really be naive, and we must openly admit that Vladimir Putin is at war with the whole of Europe and is fragmenting our democracy from within. It does so with the sole aim of destroying the European project, the European rules, because they are a threat to it. And it does not do so alone, it does so with the help of an entire network of extremist individuals, groups spread across the European Union. And it is far from just extremist political parties or disinformation websites or similar actors. They are often public officials. In this context, I cannot fail to mention the Attorney General in my country in Slovakia, who signs, signed a memorandum of cooperation with the Russian Prosecutor's Office just before the war. These are things that we can no longer overlook, and if we really want to stop Putin, then it is not enough just to admit it, but we also need to think about how to deal with such situations democratically and legitimately.