Speeches

Madam President, I believe that we must deal with China, but also according to the principle of equals. There is no doubt that China is an essential factor in resolving global conflicts as well as global issues. For us, it is important to address aligned environmental policy interests with China. But we also find that these are often just words for China, see China's current approach in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. How was the conference? Unfortunately, China has not supported our efforts, which we consider important, to maintain climate goals. I could talk about the issue of sources of raw materials, which China is not yet as open to Europe as we imagine, but also about conflicting interests, where it is a field of human rights, where it is an area of protection of minorities, suppression of the rights of religious minorities and Uyghurs. These are, I think, all the issues that we need to factor into our relations with China.

Madam President, we are witnessing the massive destruction of critical infrastructure in Ukraine. And we will vote this week on whether Russia is a terrorist state. I'm asking: How does a Russian soldier who shoots differ, murders innocent Ukrainian civilians, how does a Russian soldier who leads a handcuffed woman to shoot her in the backyard of her house differ, how does a Russian soldier differ from a terrorist if he abducts Ukrainian children, if we find mass graves? Today we are witnessing a massive destruction of critical infrastructure in Ukraine. What have the Ukrainians done to the Russians so terrible that their homes, their power plants, are being destroyed? Undoubtedly, they feel hunger, they feel cold, of course, and they also feel a lack of energy. But they are unbreakable in their belief that they will win. And we must tell the Russians that no crime will go unpunished, that reparations will be necessary, and that no doubt every terrorist will be prosecuted for decades.

Madam President, we are really no longer saying in the pandemic that they have become accustomed, but have tried how to borrow at the expense of future generations, and that is a relatively high amount. It is important to realise that the European Union is the largest issuer of bonds and in particular the stability of financial and capital markets needs to be strengthened. And in this constellation, I am sure that it is important for the EU to build up its additional financial resources. I would not have said that in the past, but for several years I have been inclined to the idea that Europe should indeed build its own financial resources. There are certainly significant risks that have already been named here. It is inflation, it is a question of Member States and of structural reforms that have not been implemented. I think there are major challenges ahead – Ukraine and the danger of Russian aggression. It is important to remember that the money we are calling for, which the European Union will eventually have to borrow, will be repaid for decades. This means that the need for own financial resources is really necessary.

Madam President, 10 years ago, the European Parliament expressed its reservations about the granting of the championship to Qatar. I believe that this does not exonerate us – even some EU Member States have participated in this decision within the framework of the FIFA cartel. I think it is important that these issues, such as human rights, the protection of minorities, women's rights, the issue of slavery, have really come to the fore in this way. I see it as positive for the whole episode around the allocation of this championship to Qatar. But it's not just an episode. I think there will be an unequivocal belief after this championship, whatever it may be, that players and coaches have also defined themselves against the non-respect of human rights, against the non-respect of that fundamental, those fundamental values that we perceive to be universal throughout the world. And perhaps Qatar is also at a crossroads whether it will open the door a little to these human rights or, on the contrary, stand strictly on a repressive system where, unfortunately, this universality, which we perceive across the world, does not apply.

Madam President, the rule of law is a key value of our community. It is supposed to guarantee equal treatment to every EU citizen in every EU country. Without a functioning system of the rule of law, citizens, companies and the non—government sector find themselves uncertain about their rights. And that is exactly the current situation in Hungary. For a long time, Europeans have felt the absence of guarantees of the rule of law, state-controlled media, interference in the free status of universities, systemic corruption and clientelism, etc., etc. Last week we witnessed the shameful diplomatic action of the Hungarian Government, which started negotiating with the Iranian regime; a regime that murders women, young people, supplies attack drones against Ukraine. In this situation, we offer to Mr Orbán very weak 16 measures, but still we don’t see any progress. The time is ending. We need to act now and we need to act according to the law of our community and protect EU values and taxpayers’ budget funds.

Madam President, I supported this own-initiative report. I believe that any racial discrimination is unacceptable in the European Union. It is unacceptable anywhere from the state level, starting with discrimination on grounds of race in the workplace. It is unacceptable, of course, even in private, in the media, anywhere. I am surprised by the rise of anti-Semitism within the European Union, for example. I think it's very alarming. We have enshrined equality before the law, before the law, as a fundamental rule in our basic documents, and it is important that racial discrimination be considered one of the most heinous discriminations that can exist. I don't want to compare them, but really, if someone is judged biased only by the color of their skin, it's disgusting. And I am glad that we have focused on supporting organizations that combat this racial discrimination, of course national action plans to be adopted against racial discrimination. I was happy to support all of this.

Madam President, I supported this report because I believe that Croatia belongs to our Schengen area. Undoubtedly, in each country you will find, to some extent, examples of human rights violations. This has happened and indeed happens in each country to varying degrees of intensity of violations. But I am convinced that Croatia has fulfilled the basic conditions that come with our rules. This was already stated by the European Commission in 2019. And I am also looking forward to the end of those terrible fronts that separated us from entering Croatian territory. And I think it is good news for the European family that the area of freedom and justice is expanding to another country. For us, Croatia is a very important country that can much better protect our common European area, our external border.

Madam President, I believe it is important that we really focus on protecting our essential critical infrastructure. Those attacks, which are increasing, as we have heard from a number of Member States, do not target state institutions, but, on the contrary, target health services, health facilities. They're targeting our businesses, stealing intellectual property data. All this will be the reality of the 21st century, and we must be prepared to protect our businesses, our citizens. And I am very pleased that this regulation has been supported. I supported him too. It is important to compare that only 41% of the cybersecurity spending in the United States of America is done by us in the European Union. That's got to go up. We must undoubtedly also increase the number of incident reports under this regulation. Some incidents are not reported. I am glad that this package has set a good position on how to report and by what deadline.

Mr President, I would like to call on the Member States of the European Union to continue to support Ukraine in its efforts to suppress the aggressor, to suppress Russia's illegal and shameful invasion of its territory. We must continue this support and support Ukraine in the supply of armaments, in the supply of weapons, because, according to the reports we have received, they are already beginning to be lacking in Ukraine, and it is important that Ukraine feels the support of all the Member States of the European Union. I know it may not be all of them, but I think that the unprecedented step we have taken – the supply of weapons – must continue. I feel that we are relaxing a little, we are murmuring a little, we are complaining about discomfort, in the face of a situation where hundreds of people are dying every day in Ukraine, where property, infrastructure are being destroyed. This inconvenience of ours cannot be remedied by somehow withdrawing our support for Ukraine. I'd be very unhappy. I think the whole of Europe is with me.

Mr President, I agree with my previous speakers that this is indeed a very progressive area that brings together a wide range of sectors and also brings together knowledge, brings together skills, undoubtedly also creative people, be they authors of computer programs or animators, authors of music and also authors of sound. These are all, I think, very important aspects of this creation. And my colleagues are right about how important this sector is. Europe is undoubtedly at the forefront of this sector, too, and it is important that it feels the support that the Commissioner has also spoken of, whether it be Creative Europe or the relevant programmes, the MEDIA Plus programme. I would like to draw attention to two problematic issues, and that is the legal anchoring of the protection of these results of creative mental activity and the entire procedures of the different teams working on these video games. Secondly, how not to create obstacles in the internal market for the dissemination of these works and, of course, how to also address the dependencies that may arise on these games. We have to admit that, too. Undoubtedly, whoever plays is not angry, but too much playing is also not the happiest solution.

Mr President, I believe that Croatia, of course, belongs to Schengen and it is a little surprising that, if it fulfilled the conditions for accession to the Schengen acquis as early as 2019, we could say that we are already three years behind schedule. So I am very glad that this decision strengthens us, that we are more united, that it also brings us closer and makes us a real family of security, justice and freedom. That's undoubted. I would also like to emphasise that we have certain debts here, not only towards Croatia, but, of course, towards Romania, Bulgaria. We should not forget them either. I am pleased that visa policy, return policy, police cooperation and information exchange will be strengthened. And, of course, I am also glad that next summer I will no longer experience those crazy queues on the Croatian border with my family. I think we could have forgiven ourselves a few years back.

Mr President, I am very much following this battle for a package designed to strengthen our financial stability. And it is good that we are following other activities after DORA. I am convinced that the digitalisation of the financial sector is a step in the right direction, but it also brings significant risks, especially in the form of cryptocurrencies. Personally, I am convinced that they represent a serious threat to our financial sector and it is good that we are responding to that. For us, the stability of the financial sector, and in particular security, is a priority. We must place clear conditions on financial institutions in ensuring their services, but also in ensuring the transparency of their behaviour and the security of the procedures they carry out, because their actions have an impact on everything, even on the stability of the monetary system, of course on small and medium-sized enterprises. It is also important to test the resilience of banks and, of course, to prevent hybrid attacks. All this is what this package is trying to do, and I am happy to support it for this.

Mr President, I also supported this proposal for a regulation, even though I did not vote for the end of the production of internal combustion engines from 2035 for a number of good reasons, but I think that this proposal is, of course, going in the right direction. If we want to promote the use of alternative fuels, be it hydrogen, electricity or, from a certain point of view, SNG, if it is produced from biomass, it is important that this support for these fuels is also accompanied by development, massive development and investment in infrastructure that will ensure the use and availability of these fuels. I supported all the proposals that have made, let's say, that network of infrastructure availability or that network of infrastructure available, whether it is 60 kilometers on the electric charger highway or 150 kilometers for hydrogen. I think this proposal is really going in the right direction.

Mr President, I supported this draft report. I think it represents once again a welcome step forward, because maritime transport has remained somewhat out of our line of sight. We were satisfied with the fact that the sea is free and that we have practically no influence on this sea. I think it is therefore a good thing that the Commission has also proposed a proposal for a regulation that shows the requirements that must also apply to maritime transport in Europe in this regard. Citizens pointed out how significantly different operators of seagoing ships behave in an unenvironmental manner. Emission reductions are also foreseen in maritime transport. The trajectory is set, I think, according to this regulation correctly. It is important to note that, of course, in maritime transport it is technologically more difficult to achieve zero emissions, that is beyond doubt. But we are talking about the fact that these emissions definitely need to be reduced. That is why I supported this proposal.

Mr President, I supported this draft budget because, of course, it represents the approval of this budget, a challenge for Parliament to find a measured budget. I think that the resulting text and the agreed text respond sufficiently to the crises we are facing. Of course, this budget is balanced. Surely you know that the European Union cannot live on debt in this sense, something else was post-COVID reconstruction, where a special programme was adopted. However, meeting our objectives, whether it be employment or digitalisation, closing the gap between regions, digitalisation as such, innovation, I am convinced that they are implementing this budget. That is why I supported it. However, I am interested in how to deal with possible so-called new money, which will be based on inflation growth. I think we should focus on that next year.

Mr President, the food crisis is indeed a real threat and the European Union must do everything it can to eliminate it, to avert it as much as possible. It is undoubtedly propelled by Putin's war, and poses a threat to thousands of deaths per day, tens of millions of people in extreme poverty, hit by a combination of various geopolitical, climate, of course, energy crises, all of which lead to food prices. I believe that the European Union has the capacity – in cooperation, of course, with our partners – to avert this food crisis and also to ensure security of food supply at European level. This is, of course, one of the other goals. Self-sufficiency is an illusion in many countries, but it must be one of the basic tasks for the EU.

Madam President, I consider the European Political Community to be a good initiative and, of course, it is an initiative that was initiated by President Macron. Certainly the success of the Czech Presidency is that so many countries have managed to bring to one place, Prague, the Czech Republic – from Iceland to Turkey, Great Britain, of course, the Caucasus states. It is important to promote such a dialogue of leaders, and I think it is also important to promote the protection of democratic values, values that are also inherent in the European Union. I know that there is, of course, a Council of Europe to protect peace and peaceful coexistence among the peoples of Europe, as well as fundamental human rights and freedoms. But unfortunately, this organization is just paralyzed by Russia's attack on Ukraine, and therefore it is good that such a community is formed. However, it is important that this community does not put the issue of the enlargement of the European Union in the background, so that even those states that decide to join the Union have this platform open, but also a free path to Europe.

Madam President, I will follow up on my colleague Simon. I totally agree with what he said in his speech. It was a huge mistake to slam the doors on the European Union to the Balkan countries, and I want to give a clear start to my speech to support the membership of these countries in the European Union. I think that the enlargement policy of the European Union should be placed in the priorities of the European Union and at the centre of our interest. When we cleared this field, it was occupied by Russia or China. We also see Ankara's interests. I strongly support the accession of these countries to the European Union and I think it is also good to take stock of their progress. Let it be in a series of chapters that have already been filled. In fact, I think that nothing prevents Bosnia and Herzegovina from being granted candidate status. It's just a matter of political will. Of course, there is still progress to be made in a number of chapters, whether it is freedom of expression or the protection of minorities, freedom of the press, but in my view a peaceful arrangement in the Balkans without permanent membership of these countries in the European Union is simply not possible. Therefore, I repeat for the last time, if these countries so wish, please give them a European future.

Mr President, we are undoubtedly on the verge of a food crisis not only in Europe, but especially in African states and other poor states around the world. There is a lack of food resources on a global scale. And the consequence of the energy crisis is that this food crisis is deepening even further. They make basic human needs, services, products and, of course, food more expensive. We have a shortage of fertilizers, a shortage of all the supportive means of care. And it is the energy crisis that exacerbates this shortage, because the production of these fertilizers is very energy-intensive. These are the consequences of Putin's war. I think it is our duty to help Ukraine as much as possible so that this Putin war ends with Putin's defeat as soon as possible.

Mr President, I of course supported this resolution. What we have seen in Iran is a clear desire for freedom, for the destruction of a disgusting totalitarian regime, a regime that has already killed hundreds of thousands of people and maimed many more. The death of Mahsa Amini shows the brutality of the regime, and the protests show the true face of the Iranian people – of people who want to live in freedom, where human life has value and where the law applies to everyone. The Iranian people need to hear that Europe supports not only Iranian women, but everyone in Iran who shares the values of democracy and protection of human rights.

Mr President, this is a very important subject, and I kind of regret that it is not on the agenda until Thursday afternoon. Anyway, it's important to learn. I have listened with great attention to the Commissioner's words and, in principle, I can really agree with him. It is important to remember that our preparedness is essential to reassure citizens that we know that we have learned the lessons of this pandemic. It is important to remember that, of course, viruses and diseases do not know the boundaries. And it is a bit strange that the strengthening of competences and integration in the Union in the field of health is a challenge for the Member States. I think this is an unfortunate approach, especially in the light of such a pandemic. We have done a lot – we have set up a new HERA, we have adapted the mandates of the agencies. I would have missed a higher level of more concrete plans to apply the lessons learned from this pandemic.

Mr President, for the first time in May this year, the Dutch Government publicly admitted that institutional racism was the main cause of the child benefit scandal. As a result of the scandal, the Dutch government resigned. The Dutch tax and customs administration drew up risk profiles of persons applying for child benefit using algorithms for foreign-sounding names and dual citizenship. And this practice has led to thousands of low- and middle-income families being scrutinized, falsely accused of fraud, and called upon to return fully legalized allowances. I understand the fight against fraud, against unauthorized exploitation and abuse of the social system, but to use algorithms that lead to racial profiling in the 21st century is a completely unacceptable practice. I am pleased with the Commissioner's presentation on this matter. There is no doubt that there is a clear call for compensation for the victims. I think it would be good for the Commissioner to say exactly how the Commission intends to monitor the compensation and redress process for citizens who have suffered specific harm from the bonus scandal. It is also important to note that in the last six years, 1,675 children have been removed from their homes by social workers. This represents an increase of 520 children and so far 555 children have not returned at the end of last year, they are still in alternative institutional care. Such a scandal is truly unacceptable in the 21st century.

Mr President, these ethnic disputes that we are witnessing in Ethiopia show historical grievances, historical tensions, but they also show how they are decimating the whole country and the region and deepening the current humanitarian and food crisis in the region. Ahmars have been the target of repeated attacks in regions such as Oromia, where we are witnessing tens of thousands of murders, hundreds of thousands, even millions of exiled. On the one hand, we see the murder of children, and on the other, we see children being called to arms. These are absolutely horrific cases, which are mainly committed by the Oromská Liberation Army. It is important that we name these war crimes, that we unequivocally condemn crimes against humanity and that we hold all perpetrators to account. They will not remain hidden anywhere, they will be called to account, and the victims will be given appropriate justice.

Mr President, the Government of Myanmar continues to brutally repress the rights of the peaceful people of this beautiful country. He restricts access to social media, shuts down journalists, brutally suppresses demonstrations, in fact, what he has apparently been learning in China for years, he is also practicing in his country. We are witnessing journalists being denounced – and now I will quote: "for spreading fear in our country, for agitating against the state system." I think we must strongly condemn this action by the military junta. Also strongly condemn all violence and condemnation of political prisoners. I also want to mention specifically Ms Suu Kyi, who won the last election. I think we need to deepen our cooperation with regional partners so that we can exert joint pressure on the Myanmar military junta.

Mr President, let me begin by expressing my outrage at the fact that Mr Sinčić took the liberty of dedicating his minute to Croatia, not to the need of millions of people in Haiti. So many murders, so many violence and criminal gangs that we are witnessing in Haiti – as if this has never ended. The UN Security Council has expressed hope for improving the current humanitarian crisis in Haiti, but the situation is not improving at all. It was as if the situation had frozen and, unfortunately, there was also a dispute over the interim president's mandate. There is no doubt that the European Union cannot leave people in need. We have been discussing this issue several times in this parliamentary term only. We need to help provide our experience, our resources, our know-how. Haiti deserves a better future.