Debate contributions by Tom VANDENDRIESSCHE

Mr President, the European Commission claims that it wants to protect our democracy. But the so-called European shield for democracy is not at all about protecting our democracy, but about protecting itself, against the will of the people. After all, the people must have no other opinion than to agree to their agenda of climate madness, mass migration and endless wars. The European shield of democracy is nothing more than a Ministry of Truth that wants to determine what is the only truth and which can no longer be doubted. With an approved regimepers and a network of fact-checkers who determine what is still allowed and what opinions are supposedly dangerous. In a real democracy, there are no dangerous opinions at all. In a true democracy, freedom of expression and freedom of the press are not a risk, but the foundation. Let's be clear: If there is any danger to our democracy, it does not come from outside at all, but from this European Commission itself.

Mr President, colleagues, the Digital Services Act and the Artificial Intelligence Act are being proposed as laws to protect our European digital sovereignty. But in reality, that legislation does not protect us from external dominance at all; It builds a wall against freedom within. They talk about freedom, but they mean control. They talk about transparency, but they mean submission. They speak of truth, but they mean obedience. This is not the protection of our democracy, but the entrenchment of those in power behind censorship, to protect themselves against the will of the people. If we allow that, then that citizen will soon be able to say everything, except what he really thinks. However, this does not change the truth or reality. No lie is strong enough to defeat the truth. No wall is strong enough to hold freedom. Ultimately, citizens will inevitably demand their freedom.

I just have to quote the President of the European Council, Mr Costa, who said last week that this trade agreement – which is clearly unbalanced – is being negotiated, because of the focus on the war in Ukraine, the endless swamp in which this Commission wants to drag us. That is why I think we need to adopt a different strategy, one that leads to peace and a strong Europe.

Mr President, the situation in Europe is dramatic and the policy of this Commission is disastrous. Our farmers are hit hard by unfair competition. Our companies are being squandered by overregulation. Our families suffer from the skyrocketing energy costs. Our women and daughters are the first victims of illegal mass migration. But for Mrs. von der Leyen there is apparently no dirt in the air. This worldly elite does not know the lives of ordinary people. But no matter how powerful they may seem, they cannot continue to deny reality. The totally unbalanced trade agreement with the United States shows the whole world how weak, dependent and submissive the European Union is. This Commission has no strategy, no plan and no solutions. That is why we need to radically change course: No mass migration, no Green Deal and not a European sale. We nationalists can take care of that.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, where could homosexuals actually walk the streets the safest? Is it in Molenbeek or is it in Budapest? Yet we do not see any European parliamentarians parading around in Molenbeek. Where we also never see them showing virtue is in Riyadh, Tehran or Islamabad. This hypocrisy proves that it is not about equal rights for homosexuals at all, but about promoting a gender ideology. That seems to have become the state religion of this European Union, with dogmas that cannot be doubted. With rituals, flags, as we just saw, and pastors to let the herd run in step. With courts to criminalize any contradiction. This is a liberal sharia that wants to impose totalitarian unity thinking and deprive the Member States of the right to make their own choices. Let everyone live as he or she wants. Stop imposing that gender ideology that denies the natural reality that there are only men and women and not 116 different so-called genders at all. As this parliament debates ideological absurdities, we are flooded with illegal migration, Europe is deindustrialising and the world is on fire. The European Union would be more concerned with what is important to our citizens: security, peace and prosperity.

Mr President, the European Union's strategy against Russian aggression is totally failing. Mrs von der Leyen claimed that sanctions would bring Russia to its economic knees. That didn't happen. Mrs von der Leyen claimed to be beating Russia with arms deliveries. That didn't happen. Mrs von der Leyen claimed to isolate Russia diplomatically. That didn't happen either. What has happened is that we have become dependent on radical Islamic regimes for our energy supply. In Moscow, Washington and Beijing, decisions are now being made over our heads. The United States is closing a mineral deal with Ukraine in front of us and at the same time the bill for this terrible war is increasingly being sent to Europe. How can we not receive it? Mrs von der Leyen and the European Union committed themselves to whatever it takes. But what will solve the next EUR 350 billion in aid, which the previous EUR 350 billion could not solve? The European Union has become the prisoner of its own strategy. This does not lead to peace and security, but ultimately makes us march to the trenches ourselves. To avoid this, we need to change our strategy. Therefore, we must support any diplomatic effort to end this war and give a future to the courageous Ukrainian people.

Mr President, the European Union is totally failing in its migration policy. Our boundaries are wide open. Illegal migration therefore continues to increase, while return procedures are inefficient, slow and lax. Only one in five of those asylum seekers is actually sent back. At the same time, the countries of origin receive billions from the European Union, but refuse to take back their illegal immigrants. This policy is absurd, naive and unsustainable. What Europe needs is a massive return strategy, mandatory readmission by the countries of origin, large-scale evictions and an end to the abuse of appeal procedures. Countries that do not take back their illegal immigrants must also bear the consequences. No money, no visas, no trade. Europe must finally dare to opt for a decisive remigration policy that protects our borders, our prosperity and our security. Unfortunately, that is not the intention of the European Union.

Mr President, with the Green Deal, the European Union introduced climate regulations, climate commitments and climate taxes. This would make Europe the economy of the future and at the same time save the world. However, this dogmatic climate policy is causing Europe to be overtaken globally by the United States and China, which are not interested in any of these measures. While Europe bans plastic straws and attaches caps to bottles, China stuns the world with artificial intelligence and energy prices in the United States are two to three times cheaper. Since even the Commission can no longer ignore reality, the Competitiveness Compass is now being proposed. At least now we recognize the problem. But what is the Commission's solution? Even more Green Deal, where billion-dollar subsidies are used to sustain a failing and downright disastrous policy. No matter how much the bureaucrats in the Soviet Union at the time devised regulations, drew up plans and wrote reports, the planned economy did not work. Similarly, the Green Deal's climate communism simply won't work. Not through regulation and subsidies, but through entrepreneurship and innovation, we build the economy of the future. We therefore call for the complete abolition of the Green Deal and a return to the politics of common sense. This is a first and necessary step towards restoring our competitiveness.

You may be surprised, colleague, but a truth that must be protected by censorship has a name. That's a lie. This is a truth that cannot stand. When you talk about foreign actors or tech platforms influencing elections, I can only say: Let the market of free ideas flourish. Let a thousand flowers bloom, as Mao said – perhaps one of your inspirators to reach this conclusion. And then I just think that we need to have confidence in the opinion of our citizens. Let the debate be held. Let everyone say their opinion and everyone also have the right to receive a different opinion. Because that's not what's being talked about: shadow bending. Secretly preventing messages from being received is a daily practice on social media. I think we should stop it.

Mr President, the European Union likes to lecture the whole world on human rights and democracy, but in reality it has itself become a model of censorship and totalitarian control. With the Digital Services Act, they claim to protect social media from so-called disinformation and hate speech, but in reality they want to protect those in power from the democratic protest of their citizens. When Elon Musk did an interview with Alice Weidel of the Alternative für Deutschland, the European Union called in as many as 150 officials to check whether anything might have been said wrong. Former European Commissioner Thierry Breton took it a step further. If the elections in Germany do not produce the desired result, then, he stated, they could simply cancel them with the Digital Services Act, as happened earlier in Romania. What they call hate speech is actually just contradiction. What they call disinformation is actually just having a different opinion. And the rulers clearly do not want that, because they always want to stay in power, regardless of what the citizen thinks about their insane policy. Free speech is not a favour of the European Union, but a fundamental right, which we must not allow to be taken away.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, Syria urgently needs its doctors and engineers who have come to Europe in recent years. After all, asylum law should never be a migration channel leading to permanent residence. It is and will remain a temporary measure for people in need. This includes a clear agreement to return home as soon as the situation has been cleared up. For Syrian asylum seekers, that moment has now arrived. The new Syrian government itself is also asking for those asylum seekers to return. After all, they are necessary to rebuild their country. Tens of thousands of refugees who were received in the region of origin are also doing so and are already returning spontaneously. However, those who came to Europe are less likely to do the same because of our social systems. These asylum seekers need to understand their role in the reconstruction of Syria. It's essential. Return is not just our expectation. Above all, it is their moral duty. That is why we must immediately suspend all pending asylum applications, family reunifications and naturalisation procedures. We must prepare and support the existing asylum seekers for their return. Remigration is mandatory, expected and necessary. No discussions, no excuses, no exceptions.

Mr President, the voter's signal was very clear. Our people want more purchasing power and less migration. But that political elite, they just continue to act as if nothing happened at all. The von der Leyen Commission is therefore simply more of the same. More migration and more climate madness. This Commission has not only completely detached itself from the people, but also from reality. After all, the rest of the world is not going along with that Green Deal, that open border policy or that crazy war rhetoric of Ursula von der Leyen. This Commission is therefore already a thing of the past before it is even started. Because everywhere the people choose a different way: those of peace, those of prosperity and those of common sense. This is the path of the nationalists. That is why we are the first of tomorrow and why this von der Leyen Commission is the last of yesterday.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, the American people have elected and won. The massive vote for Donald Trump is a historic victory of the people over the elite. It is the victory of nationalism over globalism. The Americans have taken back their country. However, we are not Americans, but Flemings and Europeans. Our interests are not necessarily the same as theirs. But we too must opt for the policy of common sense. Therefore, stop the climate madness of the Green Deal that destroys our purchasing power and opt for climate realism. Stop this open border policy that leads to insecurity and depopulation. Finally close our borders and send those illegals back. Stop censorship on social media and restore our civil rights and freedoms. In Europe, too, our people must come first again. Make Europe great again!

Mr President, during this debate, another hundred and thirty asylum seekers will be arriving in Europe. Every hour of every day of every month. More than 3,000 asylum seekers a day, and half of them are asylum fraudsters. They abuse the right of asylum to migrate and four out of five of these fortune seekers do not return at all. During the debate, 50 illegal immigrants will be added to Europe. The European Union observes, debates, contemplates, palaverts and deliberates, but refuses to take action. However, the solution is obvious. We must actively track down and return illegal immigrants. Countries that do not want to take back their illegal immigrants should no longer receive a euro in development aid. We can boycott them economically, impose visa sanctions and stop financial flows until they cooperate. The European Union can prove its added value here. Why doesn't that actually happen?

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, the European Union once started as a positive project for peace, prosperity and security. But that hasn't been the case for a long time. Instead, the EU wants to unify, centralise and bureaucratise everything. Those who are not in line threaten them with political intimidation and financial blackmail. This European Union is completely derailing. The climate madness of the Green Deal leads to collective impoverishment. The asylum chaos of the EU Migration Pact leads to even more migration, illegality and crime. Moreover, the EU drags us into the quagmire of endless wars of which no one has any idea how we will ever get out of there again. We urgently need to change course and return to what European cooperation was once intended for. It is high time for the politics of common sense to return. The time of the technocrats of the European Union is over, because the Patriots for Europe are coming.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, before the elections, they claimed that the Vlaams Belang programme was unrealistic, unfeasible and illegal. That was, of course, a pure lie. Because what turns out? More and more countries are simply implementing our programme. Even Germany is reintroducing border controls and sending Afghan criminals back to their home countries. This is because the population is sick of unwanted migration, illegality and crime. More and more Member States are no longer able to explain the asylum chaos for which the European Union is responsible to their populations and are therefore taking back control. Because this European Union offers no solutions at all. What was once called impossible, unfeasible or illegal has now become inevitable. Like Denmark, any Member State with an opt-out should be able to take back control of its asylum and migration policy.

Mr President, what I warned about two years ago has become a reality: the European Union is threatening freedom of expression on social media, undermining the very foundation of our democracy. The Digital Services Act It was presented as protection and so-called security. However, the actual agenda turns out to be censorship and control. The policy makers of the European Union want to determine what the truth is and what citizens can still say and hear. Anyone who criticizes their forced mass migration criminalizes them as hate speech. Those who do not believe their climate religion, put them away as climate negationists. With the Digital Services Act, they are trying to silence opposition to their crazy policies. Those in power do not like to be contradicted and always want to remain in power. In a democracy, all voices must be able to be expressed and heard, because no one holds the truth and citizens are free. After all, which Democrat is afraid of other opinions? The Vlaams Belang is therefore of the opinion that freedom of expression must be as broad as possible and that matters that are legal offline must also be legal online.