Speeches

Mr President, the European Union has been under pressure from disinformation inside and outside, not just from Russia, for a long time. If you look at the Russian budget, you will find that it is the relevant department in charge of disinformation that is growing budgetaryly every year. Not that we would not do anything about this, but I think that more needs to be done to combat Russian disinformation in particular. And I must recall the proposal that we have already discussed here in the past period, I have made it, on the inadmissibility of funding national political parties by third countries. This proposal did not pass. What are we witnessing in the long run? Unfortunately, in most EU Member States, you will find one or even more parties with undoubted Russian funding. Such a state of affairs is unacceptable, and we must deal with Russian propaganda once and for all, drive it out of our governments, drive it out of our political parties, out of our offices, and be united.

Madam President, the rule of law is a key European value. Dear Commissioner, the rule of law cannot be negotiated too much. It is a historically proven value. What we see in Hungary is disrespect to the judgments of the international court, control of the media, of the press, violations of the independence of the judiciary, human rights, minority rights, et cetera. It is irrelevant how many times Mr Orbán was elected – the election cannot justify stealing European money and the violation of European values. The EU budget is supposed to protect the values of the rule of law. European funds cannot help to deny European values. How long do we have to wait before these values are finally protected? Now we finally have a tool with which we can achieve the protection of our values. Money is a tool that an autocrat understands.

Madam President, I would like to thank the Commissioner and the Minister for a very constructive statement. Romani settlements are really a picture from the Middle Ages. No energy, no connection to gas and water purification, no education and work, the spread of diseases, this is really like a picture from the Middle Ages. I am also ashamed of how many of my colleagues in this room have not exercised their right to speak today, even though they have entered the debate. I think that the situation of the largest ethnic minority in Europe called for our colleagues to express themselves as well. It's a shame. Describing further the situation of these settlements is pointless. We are talking about this for the third or fourth time in this period. We need to find a solution, isolated action makes no sense. In my view, it is important to find a solution at European level in combination with a national and regional solution. And I am really inclined to create a European coordinator for dealing with the Roma issue, because this disgrace that we are facing must really be brought to an end.

Madam President, Mariupol, Bucha, Irpin, Izyum – all these are the names of the Ukrainian cities where the massacre, the atrocities committed by the Russian troops, took place. And I would now like to focus on the legal aspect of the matter, the convenience of protecting human rights. International law looks like it's toothless. The UN is blocked because the right of veto is held by a member state of the Security Council, directly a permanent member, the Russian Federation. I think that the EU should be ready and start preparing with our partners the establishment of an International Criminal Tribunal to investigate these atrocities that are taking place both in Ukraine and in the liberated territories. We need to be proactive and we need to show that international law is not toothless, that responsibility also persecutes those who rattle nuclear weapons. This is the best way to show the real protection of human rights.

Madam President, after the previous speech, I would like to say: “Let's go back to protecting our rivers.” Rivers are truly our wealth. There is no doubt that these large European flows are always cross-border in nature, so the European dimension is quite clear. These incidents also occur in the Czech Republic. There was a significant incident. I'm not abusing my performance. I was quite convinced by the Commissioner's speech. I think it is important to add two needs. I really think it is necessary to map the flows from the point of view of illegal inlets. If we simply do not have a map of what is coming into them, then these incidents will happen more and more often, this is quite obvious. And the cooperation of those national authorities is absolutely necessary, the Commissioner said. It is important that the information element is also represented here. Undoubtedly, citizens have the right to receive information, because these incidents are very worrying, they are catastrophes on many streams. And the effectiveness of the investigation, that's necessary. Indeed, it is essential that we have independent authorities here from governments that can properly investigate these incidents.

Mr President, there is no doubt that cohesion policy should not be a backward-looking policy that crouches somewhere in the corner, and the report on EU border regions compares these vast and populated areas as living labs of European integration. And I'm sure it's quite convenient. The number of challenges faced by these regions is growing steadily. Of course, this policy addresses some of the fundamental values of European integration, such as free movement, solidarity, convergence of regions and other fundamental principles of the EU. On the other hand, even in these difficult times, we should not allow cohesion policy as such to become a laboratory. Its existence is vital simply because it produces tangible results. Economic growth helps to preserve our Union. What I have been concerned about lately are attempts to gradually erode the financial basis of this policy, often in the name of achieving other important goals that are dealt with as hot topics, but almost always at the expense of cohesion policy. This is often understandable from a broader point of view, but this attitude as a long-term one is certainly dangerous. As an advocate of cohesion policy, I prefer gradual improvement. And these two motions for resolutions that have been tabled to us, I think they contribute to improving cohesion policy, and I want to thank both rapporteurs for that.

Mr President, just briefly, I also supported this report. It is clear that the COVID-19 pandemic has also caused a lot of pain for our young generation, for the cultural industry. For the people who have been affected, of course, I can't disparage this at all, but I wanted to comment on the impact on the creative industry in particular. It is clear that the COVID-19 era brought its positive aspects in the field of culture, but unfortunately the negative aspects prevailed. The outflow of artists to other areas was fundamentally affected by cultural activities that could not take place. I am convinced that we should learn from these downsides. The report indicates where lessons can be sought everywhere. I am very pleased that the European institutions want to learn from this. And we are also learning from this own-initiative report to the Member States. I was pleased to support this report.

Mr President, I supported this report. I consider this to be a very good basis for negotiations with the Member States. I firmly believe that the European Parliament's approach will also be supported by the Member States. We are leaders in a responsible approach to deforestation. This is a problem that really threatens our future. I am convinced that the list of products, for example, that we will no longer import or even export is a good basis for further negotiations. I think it shows the direction for responsible democratic states not only in the European Union, but also for our partners abroad. I also supported the ENVI amendments calling for the accountability of financial institutions. The reason is simple. Money really matters. Unfortunately, these often affect the plunder we are witnessing in third countries. So far, we have only had one of the few tools. These were trade clauses in the agreements we concluded with our partner countries. Now we have another instrument. I am confident that the Member States will support us.

Mr President, I supported this report because it reveals one fundamental idea with which I agree. Our European budget is not ready for the concurrence of so many crises that we are facing. There is no doubt that we have a climate crisis, a geopolitical crisis, we must support Ukraine. This is our commitment, and in doing so we also support our security objectives, which require very strong spending. And it is clear that the need to ask Member States for a certain helpfulness is absolutely necessary. Europe certainly needs its own resources. I myself was previously skeptical of this principle, but I must say that I was wrong about this. It is clear that the European budget is capable of accelerating performance, that it has a really high degree of efficiency of the money invested in achieving the objectives. And, in my view, it is important that we draw attention to the need for a budgetary review and ask the Member States really for the help we are asking for in this resolution.

Mr President, this is indeed a constant principle of improving the quality of life in our cities, in our municipalities, in our built-up areas. And I would like to thank the Commissioner for taking care of this issue and for having already achieved some results in doubling the budget chapter. Also to colleagues for making very thought-provoking contributions. It is really about how we live in our built-up areas, how we care not only about our architecture, but also about cultural policy in general, about traditions, but also about innovation, how we deal with the development of modern technologies, renewable energy sources, energy efficiency of buildings, inclusiveness, all these are very good topics. I am very grateful to my colleagues, except perhaps for one colleague from the ECR Group who, in this contribution, in this parliamentary debate, said, I think, some almost hateful words. This is sad on a subject that could be framed by the slogan ‘living neighbours in beauty’.

Mr President, there is indeed a major energy crisis facing Europe. And citizens' concerns are justified with the coming winter. Lack of energy, high electricity prices, secondary effects, rising prices, falling living standards. It is clear that the EU must reassure its citizens. It is good that we are able to replace the supply of Russian energy. We have managed to reduce our dependence on, for example, Russian gas to only 9% for this coming winter. But more needs to be done. I wonder what plan the European Commission will come up with tomorrow. It turns out that it is the right direction to invest in renewable energy sources, energy interconnections, energy efficiency. We need to accelerate these resources, these investments. This is definitely the right direction, but more needs to be done.

Mr President, there is no doubt that we are facing the unprecedented impact of many crises. This is a climate crisis, we are responding with a climate fund, of course, the aggression of Russia in Ukraine. We support Ukraine. It would be excellent news if Ukraine, with our help and the help of other allies, could win as soon as possible. The energy crisis, many countries are still experiencing a post-covid crisis. It is important to convince Member States to be more responsive to the requirements presented here today. Changes in the budget, I was somewhat sceptical about the generation of own resources in the EU's budgetary policy, but I think it really has obvious results. We are achieving the goals we have set ourselves. It is a very powerful instrument, the European budget. Let us truly protect the vulnerable, promote sustainable growth and push through these new programmes for the benefit of our citizens.

Mr President, two years ago, when we adopted the report on the protection of the world's forests, for which I also had the honour of being rapporteur, we actually had no real tools, apart from clauses in trade agreements, to promote our responsible environmental approach. And I am very glad that we are the first in the world to come up with such robust legislation, which concerns our internal conviction that we must also promote these measures at our internal level, both in terms of imports of these products and in terms of exports. I think that this regulation contains a really robust system of legal guarantees, legal conditions. Some of them are definitely positive. I also see a positive extension of the list of products to be covered by the Regulation, such as the rubber already mentioned, which I also proposed to the ENVI Committee. It also has weaker aspects, such as the incentive conditions for producers at local level. They may be too strict, maybe a little unclear, but overall this is a good proposal, Mr President, and I think that the Council should hear our determination to accept this proposal.

Mr President, we are talking repeatedly in this debate about the introduction of a 15% tax on the basis that some Member States have exercised their right of veto. But I would say to the detriment of Europeans, to the detriment of all of us. It is clear that profit should be taxed where it arises. Digital giant corporations are making big profits. I don't envy them at all, but this principle really should be reflected at the international level. It was approved at the international level, but a veto was used. What does that lead to? This leads to unfair tax competition. We've seen it on various leaked papers cases, I could calculate. What's the next step, what's the solution? Only to weaken, to allow the principle of unanimity in the Council to be weakened, because it is already becoming a nuisance. And what's a nuisance, and I never thought I'd say it, must be thrown away.

Madam President, Georgia is a key country in our Eastern Partnership and I have Georgia deep in my heart because it is an early Christian country. But also because it is a country of citizens who adhere to democratic values. Freedom of speech and media freedom are therefore among the cornerstones of democracy, and if they are threatened, we believe that this is indeed a trajectory of descent from the protection of the democratic rule of law and human rights. That is why we should reassure the Georgian people of their European future within our community – a community of democratic states governed by the rule of law. It also calls on them to say no to this violation of the fundamental values of a democratic rule of law and to restore freedom of speech and freedom of the press in their own country.

Madam President, since at least 2018, the Nicaraguan authorities have been carrying out systematic, targeted imprisonments, persecution of political opponents, student leaders, journalists and all those who are uncomfortable. They face death threats, intimidation, of course, assault and persecution. And despite these multiple risks, journalists and other human rights defenders continue to play a crucial role in monitoring the human rights situation in Nicaragua. To date, at least 182 political opponents are being held in prison in inhumane conditions. Seven of them were pre-candidates for the position of President in the 2021 elections. President Ortega is undoubtedly trying to control the state, and it is clear that the judiciary and the prosecutor's office are completely subject to his will, his regime. Nicaragua is changing from democracy to totalitarianism. Mr. Ortega is a servant of the Putin regime and as such is excluded from our cooperation.

Madam President, I also supported this report, although there has also been some debate in our group as to whether such a report is competent to debate, to decide, this House. I am convinced that it is within our competence, although there is a clear competence on the part of the Member States to decide on this matter, i.e. the allocation of allowances for fishing in our seas and oceans. Indeed, I believe that the European Parliament has the right to point out in the initiative report the weaknesses identified in the action of the Member States. And here we fully rely on the fact that the allocation of these fishing quotas should take place on the basis of full transparency, predictability and equality in the allocation of these quotas. These are, I think, the criteria that we can always sign up to, and that is why I have also been happy to support this report.

Madam President, I would like to say here that I supported this draft report. It is worth appreciating the efforts made by the Committee on Regional Development on this topic to the remote regions, as they must not feel abandoned, even in the current geopolitical conflicts. We are constantly scissors in quality of life, in economic development precisely between continental Europe and our remote regions. I think it is important to focus on this topic, which is why I supported this report. We must support development in these countries, and of course also their economic transition, modernisation, which is very gradual in these countries. And our interest is also demonstrated by the approval of this initiative report.

Madam President, I supported this report after some reflection. Finally, I must confess, I do not see Turkey's full status in the European Union. I see here a whole series of problems that Turkey has with respect for human rights, with the level of the rule of law. I could calculate other negative interventions here, such as the Turkish government's intervention in monetary policy, but despite all these problems, I think it is important to show the Turkish people and the citizens of this country that we stand by them, that we also want to stand up for their rights, that we want to have a dialogue with their government, whatever that may be. And we should also prepare for a time when Mr Erdogan will no longer be in power, for an intensified dialogue with this country. She's part of our close alliance, that's for sure. But I don't think there should be a meaningful debate about full member status.

Madam President, I consider the Eastern Partnership to be a key area for our security at this moment, but not only at this moment. It is important that we support these countries, which are facing huge challenges. These challenges can be summed up in five clear points: of course, the danger of frozen conflicts, Russian aggression in those regions, the threat of poverty, the threat of climate change and growing nationalism. I believe that the countries that fall under the Eastern Partnership deserve our full support. We must support development projects in those countries. Undoubtedly, these countries are supposed to benefit from close ties with the European Community, because the moment we accidentally fail in a country or leave this partnership, we leave room for further aggressive influence of Russian interests in that space.

Madam President, I would like to draw attention in one minute to our dependence on Chinese critical raw materials, also as a result of the Russian aggression in Ukraine. It brings not only thousands of victims, hundreds of thousands of wounded, millions of displaced, but also other impacts on the lives of each of us. Let it be the threat of famine, the interruption of supply chains, but also the interruption of supply of critical raw materials. It is quite clear that we must build our self-sufficiency and independence, and it is important to stress that we need to develop a circular economy scheme, also negotiate good partnerships and maintain good partnerships with African countries, and undoubtedly also negotiate further partnerships with China, because unfortunately we need its raw materials resources and the war in Ukraine puts these resources at risk. This is a task for the Commission and for all of us.

Madam President, I would like to thank the rapporteur for her presentation of the report. I consider this to be extremely important, even though I am a resident of a landlocked country. Transparency is important, in this respect it is undoubtedly necessary to call on the Member States to respect also access to information, to distribute quotas in terms of economic, social criteria. So this must undoubtedly have our full support. But I also wanted to draw attention, as a member of the ENVI Committee, to the importance of the sustainability of overall fisheries, because if, after the raids of some ships, there will be completely dead zones in our seas, then there will actually be no allocation of quotas. Therefore, what the rapporteur also mentioned, trawls, many predatory practices of industrial fishing, all have to be resolved in the European Union.

Madam President, I would like to draw attention to the risk of famine as a result of the conflict in Ukraine. We see hundreds, even thousands of crimes in Ukraine – Bucha, Kramatorsk, Irpin and others. Of course, Ukraine has our maximum military, financial, resource and moral support. What is frightening are the consequences, which are also reflected in the sharp increase in prices, and especially in food. This increase in prices can have a significant impact in the third world. It can be a huge price shock and there can be a real famine. What should we do? Of course, to help Ukraine as much as possible to win this conflict provoked by Russia, by unequivocal aggression. Secondly, to ensure the possibility of sowing, crop management for Ukrainian farmers and harvesting. Thirdly, the removal of stranded agricultural crops in Ukraine and, of course, targeted support for vulnerable countries, especially from the Third World. The best news is that Ukraine will win. Undoubtedly, this will avoid famine.

Madam President, I support this agreement. I thank the Commissioner for her work on this agreement. I think we have always been cautious, cautious in the area of taxation, even in my political group, but we appreciate this compromise. We must avoid escaping precisely from activities and taxation outside the European area. And I think that this agreement, also because it has a global repercussions, is the way in the right direction. We must also avoid past excesses, LuxLeaks, which actually pointed to tax dumping. There must be tax competition, I am for it, but we must also avoid unfair behaviour on the part of some states. So do everything possible to minimise tax evasion and preserve the drive for fair taxation – that, I think, after many years of talk, is very good progress.

Madam President, I would never have thought that there would be dictators in Europe in the 21st century, and Mr Lukashenko has been here for 27 years. I would never have thought that in the 21st century there might be a direct war between one European state and another, and we have had an incredible conflict since World War II with horrific victims. What we need for Belarus is unequivocal support for the Belarusian people. Strong support for the opposition, trade unions, detainees and prisoners. Undoubtedly, we need a road map on how to show our sanctions and the steps that will follow if we fail in our demands. What we need unequivocally is, in my opinion, for Ukraine to win. Because if Ukraine wins, the Belarusian regime and dictator Lukashenko will undoubtedly fall.