Debate contributions by Tomáš ZDECHOVSKÝ

Madam President, honourable Members of the Council, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, the European Parliament, and we all agree on this, is a symbol of free democratic debate. But let's be honest. Freedom and democracy are vulnerable. In recent months, it has become increasingly apparent that the Russian regime is not only waging war in Ukraine, but against our states and against our democratic institutions. Not tanks, but influence, not weapons, but money that someone carries in an envelope, misinformation, loyalty hidden behind mandates, assistant positions, or consulting contracts. Investigation published by the server EU Observer shows that there is a network of MEPs and their entourage in the European Parliament who have been voting and acting in line with the Kremlin's interests for a long time. And unfortunately, there are many representatives of the Czech Republic, Slovakia or Germany among them. This is not an ideological dispute, this is a security risk. It's not about criminalizing different opinions. It is a conscious cooperation with an authoritarian regime that murders and rapes people in Ukraine. As early as 1 June 2023, in its resolution on foreign interference in democratic processes, the European Parliament itself made it clear that ‘foreign interference poses a serious threat to the functioning of democracy and must be systematically detected and countered.’ That is why we need to fill this with content. We need the courage to name the problem. We need a transparent screening of ties. We need to protect institutions from abuse and we need clear accountability where failures have occurred. Because democracy, ladies and gentlemen, will not survive alone. Democracy will only survive if we are able to defend it. And this is where the defense begins, here in this hall.

Madam President, Commissioner, consumer protection is not just a marginal policy. In fact, this is why the European Union exists so that the single market protects people and gives them safe and high-quality products in fair competition. And this is not just a principle, these are hard numbers. The single market is 450 million consumers and household expenditure accounts for more than 51% of the EU's GDP. If consumers do not trust the market, they will lose all of Europe. The 2030 Agenda rightly combines consumer protection with competitiveness and shows concrete benefits. By removing some artificial barriers on the market, consumers can save up to €14.1 billion per year for selected products. But today we are facing a new reality, a huge pressure from cheap imports and e-commerce outside the European Union. The number of dangerous products has increased by 52% since 2019, and by 61% in 2024. Up to 75% of products come from outside the EU, and about half of alerts are related to goods from China. This is a direct threat to consumer safety and fair competition. Therefore, Commissioner, I stress the enforceability of the rules and the need to do something about them.

I have one question. I think you will understand – or I can speak German, if you want. My question is easy. Do you think that we are a totalitarian regime? That someone in Brussels is a dictator? And the Commissioner, especially this Commissioner, that you can see here, is part of a dictatorship of Brussels against Hungary? Do you trust these things? Please for your clear response.

Madam President, dear Commissioner, dear ladies and gentlemen, 'rule of law' is not an abstract slogan. It's a fundamental thing in the European Union. It's the foundation of the fair and proper application of European law, for the protection of the EU budget and the protection of citizens' money. This report is clear: where the rule of law is weakened, European funds are at risk, corruption grows, public procurement is destroyed, justice stops being independent, and citizens lose trust not only in their governments, but in the European Union itself. This is why the rule of law conditionality mechanism exists – not to push citizens, but protect them, protect the people and their money. We are not speaking about a concrete country. We are speaking generally about the principle of democracy, about how the taxpayers have to trust democratic values and the democratic mechanism without ideology. This is why the EPP strongly supports this report.

Mr Valet, so I understand your words that you agree and Patriots are supporting. Do you agree with this proposal? With what our rapporteur here is proposing? Will the Patriots support this report? You agree with me that you will do it? Because from your speech, it was not clear.

Madam President, I have full respect for all of you, my dear colleagues, that are here. But points of order start with the paragraph I am referring to. Please read it and be careful. This is not a one-minute speech. If you want to say some political speeches, let us go to the evening and stay here. But if you want to have a point of order, please respect our rules.

Thank you for the question, I don't think we can really fund anyone who has worked with smugglers. Smugglers are society's biggest waste. These are people who are abusing migration and are abusing people on the run who are actually trying to get to Europe. And I think there were a lot of fundamental mistakes made between 2014 and 2017. Now I think that the Commission already sees this situation differently and there really needs to be an open dialogue with the Commission so that this situation does not happen again. If you don't love us, leave us. If you do not love us, you have nothing to do in the territory of the European Union.

Madam President, first of all, let me commend your pronunciation of my name. Commissioner, thank you for letting us discuss this very topic here today, because I have been warning for 12 years that unaddressed migration is the biggest problem, an internal problem in Europe, and it divides us too much. That is why we need to work systematically with it. Yes, someone will say that the migration pact does not work. But some things in the migration pact are very good. We have unified the methodologies, now it is necessary to shorten the screening of people and it is necessary to get people who are illegally present on the territory of the European Union outside the territory of the European Union. And I firmly believe, and here I am counting on Renew, on the ECR, and on other democratic parties, that they will help us have another debate on how we should just tighten up some of the things that concern the issue of migration.

You said what you don't want, but tell me any solution. You are every time criticising everything. I never heard something constructive from you. So, you have 30 seconds now, tell me, what is your solution for immigration? And tell me one thing: why do you use immigrants in your hospitals? Why do you use nurses from central and eastern Europe? When you use doctors in your hospitals, they are also migrants. Could you respond me this simple question?

Mr President, you know, I do not want to repeat what has been said here, because I think that everything you have said here is important. The protection of nature and the prevention of illegal trade in animals is the main theme of the CITES COP20 conference in Uzbekistan. For me personally, Uzbekistan, as the former head of the Central Asia delegation, is a very good example of a state that has understood the importance of working together in the European Union, not only in the area of the economy, but mainly in the area of the environment. Yes, it is not a developing country, it is a country that dynamically demonstrates what we could see in the states of Central and Eastern Europe before they joined the European Union. Uzbekistan shows that it is willing to hold international discussions that lead to the protection of nature and a paradigm shift in climate perception. CITES is not just about animal and plant protection, ladies and gentlemen, it's about trust, it's about cooperation and it's about responsible development. And I only ask you, when we discuss with our partners from all over the world, let us be humble and try to find a consensus with them.

I have just a question about why you are speaking about the EPP today. We saw your reliability – you promised us to vote on one issue with us and half of your group resign for this opinion. Also, why are you saying that the European People's Party is not against climate change? We are a predictable partner. The problem is the Socialists. If you are not in, we will vote it with someone who has, with us, the majority.

Mr President, if I were not an MEP, I would like to be a member of the European Court of Auditors. And why? Because I would work in an institution that is absolutely professional, reliable and gives us good advice on how to deal with European funds. Indeed, the 2024 annual report confirms once again that the accounts of the European Union give a true and fair view of the overall error rate. The weakness of the European Union, which fell from 5.6% to 3.6%. That's real progress. At the same time, however, we must, and the Commission must, take seriously the clear warning – the growing number of irregularities under the Recovery and Resilience Facility, known as the Recovery Fund. This should be a wake-up call for further action by the European Commission. Instead of creating new financial mechanisms within the RRF structure or planning new funds without firm guarantees, we must first find out whether the current system really works. Supervision, accountability, transparency must be preceded by enlargement. The conclusions of the European Court of Auditors' accounts are not a criticism. They're a recommendation. Let us learn from them and strive for simpler, more sustainable and more reliable European funding.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, Commissioner, I would say that you have made a brilliant speech if you did not forget the aspect of the Committee on Budgetary Control, which is actually trying here to ensure that every euro that citizens of the European Union receive goes not just to oligarchs, but to things that are connected to the European Union. We in the Committee on Budgetary Control have said that there must be three mechanisms that must work. First, the rule of law conditionality mechanism. We have to use it without hesitation. The rule of law doesn't work, we stop money. It's a dot. We also need to be smarter against fraud. This means that tools such as EDES and ARACHNE must be mandatory. You don't have these tools, you don't get money from the European Union. And we have to say that the European prosecutor's office must be on the front line of this fight and here without any compromises.

Madam President, yes, I have a point of order. Markus Ferber's card doesn't function. Also, it's really shameful that we are having technical problems here. Also we will call for a repetition of the vote.

Mr. Kaliňák, thank you for the question. You should address this issue to the CONT secretariat, which processed the report. Otherwise, I think you're mentioned quite often in our security services. I think your visits to the Russian embassy and running out the back door or your cooperation with Voice of Europe, which belongs to the pro-Russian disinformation scene, and many politicians have been paid for this cooperation, are very well known and it shows the decline of a certain democracy and culture in a person who should advise the prime minister.

Madam President, I will be also strict. Madam President, let me start a little in person. My korene vedú aj to Slovakia. The old father came from Trenčín and part of my family still lives in Slovakia. Every year I come back here and I feel at home. Therefore, what I want to tell you today is not just a political speech by an MEP, but the confession of a person who cares about Slovakia. I remember a time when we Czechs looked up to Slovakia with admiration, when you adopted the euro, when your economy was growing, and when you showed that even a smaller country could be an example of a modern and economically advanced open society. It is even more painful today to see where Slovakia is moving. Billions of European funds disappear in projects that do not serve the Slovak people, but irresponsible politicians and their friends. Control authorities, which are supposed to stand on the side of the honest, are paralyzed. Where hundreds of lawsuits have been filed in the past, there are now barely two a year. During the inspection mission, we heard stories of farmers being blackmailed, whistleblowers facing intimidation, and journalists risking their lives for writing the truth. I, too, have faced intimidation and death threats from my family. This only confirms that the problem is really serious and systemic. After the visit, we forwarded over 300 suggestions to the European Commission and I firmly believe that these will be investigated.

Mrs. Konečná, my grandmother always said that a bad goose always speaks up. She meant it in connection with the hunting of my family, which had a tradition with us. So when the goose was shot, she always started making noise. I think there is a lot of evidence of your activities and your meetings with various Chinese companies, your activities at the Iranian embassy and your meetings with Russian diplomats. I think it's up to the police and the secret services to prove it to you.

Madam President, democracy in Europe is under threat today as never before, both physically and online. Russia is funding extremist parties in Europe that tell us who is an agent and who is not, spread Russian propaganda, carry out cyberattacks, but also abuse migration to weaken the European Union. Meanwhile, China is supplying low-cost technology for mass surveillance, investing in media and infrastructure, and influencing elections and public debate. And this directly threatens fair elections and media freedom. We have elections in the Czech Republic in October. Social networks have strategically overwhelmed troll farms and spam campaigns. The solution is not censorship or control of the Internet. The answer is informed democracy. We must give people truthful and verified information and protect them from lies and propaganda.

Colleague, thank you for what you said. I have one question for you. Do you think social media should be anonymous? Should troll farms overwhelm networks of politicians with content generated? Or do you think that someone who is on social media should show an ID card?

Madam President, fellow Member, I was delighted to hear your speech. So show us at last the rational solution to deal, for example, with the United States. Why don't you show us how to handle it yourself? Say that you will go there instead of Commissioner Šefčovič and that you will show how you agree with Donald Trump. I often see speeches on your social networks criticising the European Union. Show me something constructive that you have done during your time here in the European Parliament.

Thank you, dear colleagues, I have one question: do you think that some decision of ethics body will have an impact on the behaviour of some groups that are not respecting the law, that are systematically misusing funds? There are, in this group, many decisions of the courts that the members of this group were stealing money, including Marine Le Pen. What do you think, how will they behave?

Thank you very much for this great question. I was expecting this question, and I think this is not something that is linked with ethics. This is normally fraud. Also, we cannot use any ethical standard for someone who doesn't know what ethics mean. Also, we need a criminal investigation and to bring the people to court. And I think it's very important to say that stealing the money of European payers, it doesn't mean nothing with ethics, it means that it's fraud – it's fraud. And all these groups we need to bring to court. And I think it's the most important reaction on this behaviour of some misusing the funds.

Mr President, I thank a colleague from an extremist group for a fun insert during this evening. Dear colleagues, allow me to continue this debate seriously. The misuse of European funds is an attack on citizens' trust in the European Union, and it does not matter whether it is committed by left-wing or right-wing extremists. Today we are faced with a serious case that shakes the confidence of the European Parliament. The European Public Prosecutor's Office has opened an investigation into the possible misuse of EUR 4.3 million from the European Parliament's Fund by the Identity and Democracy Group, of which the French party was also a member. Rassemblement national led by Marine Le Pen or the Czech SPD. The group, which has presented itself as a defender of national interests and an opponent of Brussels democracy, is now suspected of seriously violating the rules it was supposed to protect itself. Money earmarked for parliamentary activities is not an ATM for groups to cash in for their friends, it is money earmarked for a political group to function. And we, as the European People's Party, consistently insist on transparency and respect for the rules and responsibilities of all political actors, regardless of ideology.